Overview
- Bloomberg reported that Apple is preparing to launch Apple Pay in India as soon as October 2026, though Apple has not publicly confirmed the date.
- Reuters and other reports say the initial rollout is likely to begin with Axis Bank credit cards while HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank remain in commercial talks without signed deals.
- Apple is expected to add other Indian banks gradually through individual agreements rather than launch with many partners at once.
- Support for India’s UPI system is possible but not guaranteed at launch; Apple Pay’s card model uses tokenised cards stored on devices and Face ID or Touch ID to authenticate contactless payments.
- If deployed, Apple Pay could change payment options for iPhone users, create new commercial ties for banks and card networks, and pit Apple against entrenched UPI players such as PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm.