The Apple Pay payment service has finally entered the Indian market after years of waiting; a market that, despite rapid growth in digital payments, has fundamental differences with the US and many card-based economies. Apple began rolling out the service on Tuesday, and Axis Bank has become the first Indian bank to support Apple Pay.
In the first phase, eligible Axis Bank customers can add the bank’s credit cards to the Apple Wallet app and use them for online purchases and contactless payments at compatible terminals. However, the initial scope of the service is limited and covers only eligible Axis Bank cards on the Visa and Mastercard networks. India’s domestic payment network, RuPay, is not currently on the list of supported cards.
The limitation is not only about card types. In its current phase, Apple Pay works only at stores and payment terminals that have activated the necessary infrastructure to accept the service. Therefore, even a user with a supported card may be able to pay with Apple Pay at one terminal but encounter a failed transaction at another.
These conditions largely relate to the different structure of India’s payments market. In the US and many developed countries, card payments play a major role in the digital economy, but in India the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has become the backbone of digital payments. This system allows users to transfer money from one bank account to another without directly using a card and to make everyday payments via banking apps or payment services.
The widespread use of QR codes has also made direct account-to-account payments a normal method for a large portion of Indian users. As a result, Apple Pay faces a market on entry where mobile payments do not necessarily mean card payments.
Apple Pay, on the other hand, requires different infrastructure. Card issuers and companies involved in payment acceptance must align their systems with Apple’s service. This issue can make rapid expansion of Apple Pay in India more difficult; especially since Apple’s negotiations with some large banks over commercial terms have not yet concluded.
According to published information, Apple has requested about 20 basis points, equivalent to 0.2 percent, in fees per Apple Pay transaction. This figure constitutes a significant portion of the roughly 40 to 50 basis point payment-layer margin. Such a fee structure, which aligns with Apple Pay’s business model in some other markets, has been one of the points of disagreement between Apple and some of India’s large banks.
Consequently, HDFC, ICICI and SBI Card do not support Apple Pay at the initial rollout and commercial negotiations with them are ongoing. Apple, Axis Bank and these institutions did not respond to requests for comment about the details of the collaboration.
The arrival of Apple Pay could be commercially significant for Apple despite the initial limitations. India is one of the growing iPhone markets and a substantial segment of iPhone users, particularly premium credit card users, could be potential Apple Pay customers. This group of users may increase demand for wider acceptance of the service among banks and merchants.
On the other hand, even if Apple Pay does not become a public service for all Indian users in the short term, each transaction can create a new revenue stream for Apple. This matters as the company is simultaneously expanding its presence in India through iPhone sales, local manufacturing and development of official stores.
According to TechCrunch, Apple Pay’s launch in India after years of delay began through collaboration with Axis Bank. Earlier reports had also outlined Apple’s plans to enter India’s payments market. The company now has to operate in a market where UPI dominates digital payments and will need the cooperation of more banks and acceptors to expand Apple Pay.
Apple Pay’s entry is also part of Apple’s broader strategy to grow its activities in India. According to Counterpoint Research data cited in previous reports, Apple held about 28 percent of India’s smartphone market by value in 2025, up from 23 percent the year before. At the same time, India has taken an increasing role in the iPhone production chain and, according to Business Standard, about one-quarter of global iPhone production now takes place in the country; a share that could grow in coming years.
Therefore, the launch of Apple Pay can be seen as part of Apple’s effort to build a more complete ecosystem around its Indian users; although the success of the service in a country where direct bank payments and UPI are highly prevalent will largely depend on the extent of bank, card and payment-terminal support.