Apple Pay India launch may change payments in iPhones: Expected date, banks supported, UPI access and features

Apple Pay is finally coming to India, and the wait has been a long one. According to Reuters, which first reported the development citing people familiar with the matter, the service will go live next month with Axis Bank credit cards, making India one of the last big smartphone markets to get access to Apple's own payment system.

For iPhone users, this means a new way to pay at stores without opening a separate app. But the rollout will not cover everyone at once, and it will not replace UPI either. Here is what is known so far about the launch date, the banks involved, and how the payment process will actually work.

When Will Apple Pay Launch In India


Apple Pay is expected to launch in India next month, Reuters reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. The launch will start with a single banking partner, Axis Bank, before expanding to other lenders over time.

This slow, one bank at a time approach is not new for Apple. One of the sources told Reuters that Apple plans to add lenders gradually through direct, bank by bank deals, mirroring phased rollouts the company has used in other markets. India will likely see the same pattern, with more banks joining in the months after launch rather than all together.

Which Banks Will Support Apple Pay

Axis Bank will be the first Indian lender to support Apple Pay. The bank had 16.26 million active credit cards as of July, according to RBI data cited by Reuters, which puts it behind HDFC Bank, SBI Cards and ICICI Bank in terms of card numbers.

Apple has also held talks with HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, but two of the sources told Reuters that commercial terms with both lenders have not been finalised. Until those deals are signed, customers of these banks will not be able to add their cards to Apple Pay. Axis Bank being the launch partner, despite having a smaller card base than its rivals, suggests Apple was ready to move ahead with whichever bank agreed to terms first.

Will Apple Pay Work With UPI

This is the part many Indian users will want clarity on, and the answer right now is no. Apple Pay's India launch is built around card payments, not UPI. Users will store tokenised card details on their iPhone or Apple Watch and tap to pay at supported terminals, similar to how the service works in other countries.

UPI remains the dominant force in Indian digital payments by a wide margin. In August alone, UPI processed 24.51 billion transactions worth Rs29.82 lakh crore, accounting for 84 percent of the country's digital payment volume. Apps like PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm run on this network, and Apple Pay is not expected to plug into it at launch.

Adding to the competition, NPCI rolled out its own UPI Tap & Pay feature in September, giving UPI users an NFC based tap option before Apple Pay even arrives. So while Apple Pay brings tap and pay to iPhones, it will not be the only tap based option in the market, and it will sit in a separate lane from UPI rather than replacing it.

How Will The Apple Pay Process Work In India

Setting up Apple Pay will work much like it does elsewhere. Users add a supported credit card to the Wallet app on their iPhone or Apple Watch, and the card details get tokenised and stored securely on the device. At checkout, a tap on a contactless terminal completes the payment, with no need to open a separate banking or payments app.

Authentication happens through Face ID or Touch ID rather than a PIN or OTP for each transaction. This is possible because the Reserve Bank of India allowed biometric authentication for card payments last year, a rule change that quietly cleared the legal path for Apple Pay to function the way it does in other markets.

For now, the service is limited to credit cards from Axis Bank. Debit card support and wider bank access have not been confirmed, and neither has a firm public launch date beyond the general timeline of next month, as per Reuters.

Inputs from Reuters