Apple Pay finally launched in India on September 30, 2026, a decade after its initial mention. This arrival comes when UPI processes 24.51 Bn transactions monthly, overshadowing card payments. The launch supports only select Axis Bank Visa and Mastercard credit cards, excluding RuPay and other banks.
How We Got Here
Apple CEO Tim Cook first discussed bringing Apple Pay to India during his 2016 visit, meeting with then ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar. Back then, the digital payments landscape looked very different, without the current dominance of UPI.
The Numbers
- Apple Pay launched September 30, 2026, allowing payments via iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
- UPI handled 24.51 billion transactions worth ₹29.82 Lakh Crore in August 2026.
- The service currently supports only eligible Axis Bank Visa and Mastercard credit cards, excluding RuPay.
- Counterpoint Research's Tarun Pathak noted regulatory and technical roadblocks, plus India’s small iPhone installed base, as reasons for the decade-long delay.
What Happens Next
🇮🇳 Why This Matters for India
For high-spending iPhone users, especially product managers and investors in Bangalore and Mumbai, the limited card support means minimal immediate change to their payment habits.
The Take
Apple Pay's real play is deepening ecosystem lock-in for its premium hardware users, not a direct challenge to UPI’s market share. The metric to watch is how quickly they onboard major banks like HDFC and ICICI, rather than transaction volume against PhonePe or Google Pay.
Source:
Inc42 ↗