Apple Pay India Launches with Axis Bank
Apple Pay India is officially here. Apple launched its card-based payments service in the country on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, with Axis Bank as its first banking partner. The move brings Apple’s payments platform to the world’s most populous country after years of watching from the sidelines of a market dominated by UPI.
The launch marks Apple’s first serious push into India’s payments space, a market that looks very different from the card-heavy economies where Apple Pay has thrived. Here is what you need to know about the rollout, who can use it, and why it matters.
A Limited First Rollout
The initial launch is deliberately narrow. Apple Pay India will support eligible Axis Bank cards on the Visa and Mastercard networks. India’s homegrown RuPay network is not included at launch.
Acceptance is also restricted. You can only use the service at merchants and payment terminals that have been enabled for Apple Pay. That means even customers with supported cards may find uneven acceptance in the early days.
According to people familiar with the matter, a transaction could work at one terminal operated by an independent payments provider that has enabled the service but fail at another terminal whose acquiring bank has not integrated it. That unevenness is expected during the initial phase.
How Apple Pay India Differs from UPI
India’s digital payments boom has been driven largely by UPI, the state-backed Unified Payments Interface. UPI lets consumers make instant bank-to-bank payments without relying on cards. Scanning a QR code to pay directly from a bank account has become commonplace across the country.
Apple Pay works differently. It is card-based and requires individual issuers and payment infrastructure providers to integrate with the service. That makes a broad rollout more complex than simply switching on a feature.
Because UPI handles the bulk of digital payments in India, Apple Pay India will initially address a much smaller card payments market. That is a key difference from the U.S. and other card-heavy economies where Apple Pay has gained strong adoption.
The Fee Dispute Holding Back Big Banks
Apple’s commercial terms have emerged as a sticking point with some of India’s largest banks. Apple is seeking a fee of about 20 basis points on transactions, according to people familiar with the matter. That is a significant bite out of the roughly 40 to 50 basis points of margin in the payments layer.
The fee structure is broadly consistent with Apple Pay’s commercial model in other markets. Even so, several major banks are holding back.
HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and SBI Card are not expected to support Apple Pay India at launch as negotiations over commercial terms continue. Apple, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and SBI Card did not respond to requests for comment.
Earlier in September, it was reported that Apple was preparing to launch Apple Pay in India in October, starting with Axis Bank credit cards. The timing has now landed at the end of September.
Who Can Use Apple Pay India at Launch
At launch, eligible Axis Bank customers can add their credit cards to Apple’s Wallet app. From there, they can use Apple Pay for online purchases as well as contactless payments at supported terminals.
The steps are straightforward:
Open the Wallet app on your iPhone.
Add an eligible Axis Bank credit card on Visa or Mastercard.
Use Apple Pay for online checkouts and tap-to-pay at enabled terminals.
If your card is on RuPay, or if your bank is HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, or SBI Card, you will need to wait. Support from those issuers depends on ongoing negotiations.
Why Apple Pay India Could Still Matter
Even a limited launch could be meaningful. India has a growing base of iPhone users who tend to be more affluent and more likely to use premium credit cards. Those customers could make the service hard for banks to ignore, despite UPI’s dominance.
The transaction fee Apple would charge gives it another way to monetize its growing base of iPhone users in the country. Even if Apple Pay India remains a niche service, the economics could still make India a meaningful market for Apple.
Apple’s Broader Push in India
The payments launch adds another piece to Apple’s growing business in India. The company has been expanding iPhone sales, local manufacturing, and its retail footprint.
Apple accounted for 28% of India’s smartphone market by value in 2025, up from 23% a year earlier. India already accounts for about a quarter of global iPhone production, and that share could rise to 30% to 35% over the next five years, according to a report citing an Indian government official.
What to Watch Next
The big questions now are whether HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and SBI Card will eventually join, and whether RuPay support arrives. Both outcomes would determine how widely Apple Pay India can spread.
For now, the service is a first step. It is limited, card-based, and aimed at a small slice of India’s payments market. But it signals that Apple sees India as a market worth investing in for the long term.
