New Delhi, Sep 30: Exactly a week after the Central Government announced that the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) would apply to UPI transactions above ₹2,000, Apple Pay has launched in India through a partnership with Axis Bank.
Unlike India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which enables instant bank-to-bank payments without relying on card networks, Apple Pay is a card-based payment service. It requires individual card issuers and payment infrastructure providers to integrate their systems with Apple Pay.
Apple Pay enables users to make contactless payments without manually entering a card PIN or one-time password for each transaction. Payments are authenticated using Face ID, Touch ID, or the device passcode.
According to Central Bank data, Axis Bank is India’s fourth-largest credit card issuer, with 16.3 million cards outstanding as of August, out of approximately 124 million credit cards across the country.
Axis Bank said its customers can add eligible cards through the bank’s mobile app or Apple Wallet and use Apple Pay for payments in stores, apps and online. The service is available on compatible iPhones, Apple Watches, and iPads. Apple Pay currently supports eligible Axis Bank Visa and Mastercard cards, but does not support India’s homegrown RuPay network.
To enable acceptance of Apple Pay across India’s payment ecosystem, Apple has worked with several payment service providers, including Cashfree, JusPay, Mswipe, Paytm, PayU, Pine Labs, Razorpay and Worldline.Apple said Apple Pay will be accepted by “millions of merchants” across India, including Blinkit, Croma, ixigo, Reliance brands, Tata 1mg and Zomato.
The launch marks another development in India’s rapidly evolving digital payments ecosystem, bringing Apple’s device-based payment experience into a market where UPI has become the dominant infrastructure for instant digital payments.
