Apple Pay coming to India, UPI support may be delayed

Apple is reportedly planning to introduce its Apple Pay payment service in India by October, but the rollout might initially miss support for the country's leading payment system, Unified Payments Interface (UPI). According to a report from Gadgets Now, the service is anticipated to begin by enabling contactless payments using tokenized Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards for iPhone and Apple Watch users. These users would be able to tap and pay at NFC-enabled point-of-sale terminals.

Apple has been in advanced discussions with major Indian banks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank, as well as Visa and Mastercard, to provision cards for the service, as reported by Gadgets Now. However, the integration of UPI into Apple Pay is expected to occur at a later stage, pending talks with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and addressing technical issues related to biometric authentication.

The imminent October launch would mark Apple's long-awaited entry into India's digital payments market, despite Apple Pay having been globally available for over a decade. Apple's strategy may initially focus on card-based payments before incorporating UPI to accommodate India's unique digital payment landscape, which is predominantly driven by UPI due to its low transaction costs.

The absence of UPI support at launch could pose challenges for Apple Pay in India, where UPI has become the dominant payment method. Apple relies on device-level biometric authentication like Face ID or Touch ID, whereas UPI uses UIDAI-backed authentication. Moreover, NFC architecture differences between Apple's ecosystem and India's interoperable payment infrastructure could complicate integration.

A commercial hurdle exists as well, as Apple currently charges around 0.15-0.20% transaction fees globally for Apple Pay, compared to significantly lower rates in India. Negotiating pricing agreements with Indian banks and card networks may prove crucial for Apple's successful launch. Apple's iPhone user base in India, approximately 14 million as of 2025, represents a potential target segment for Apple Pay, particularly its premium users who can afford higher transaction fees.