Why Apple Pay Took Nine Years to Reach India, Explained

Apple Pay is finally live in India. It works on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, but for now only with Axis Bank's Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

The interesting part is how long it took. Apple Pay first launched in the US in 2014, and Apple's services chief Eddy Cue said in 2017 that the company was working to bring it to India. Samsung Pay launched here the same year, and nine years later it still supports far more banks than Apple Pay does on day one, as our Apple Pay vs Samsung Pay comparison shows. So what kept Apple out for nearly a decade? A mix of Indian payment rules, Apple's own design choices and, lately, a fight over money.

Problem one: India wanted payment data kept in India

In 2018, the RBI ordered that all payment data be stored only within India. Apple put its Apple Pay plans on hold after the rule came in.

Apple's system wasn't built for this. Apple backs up tokenised payment data on its servers in the US, Denmark and China, and has no data centre in India. The rule also came with a requirement for annual system audit reports, which Apple believed it didn't need since it doesn't store payment data.

Apple's eventual fix was to keep the tokenised payment data on users' phones and with card networks like Visa and Mastercard, which already follow India's localisation rules, rather than copying it to Indian servers.

Problem two: the OTP that Apple didn't want

If you've paid by card online in India, you know the drill: card details, then an OTP. India requires two-factor authentication for card payments, and Apple saw the OTP step as clunky, cutting against the smooth tap-and-go experience it sells globally.

That changed recently. The RBI updated its authentication guidelines in late 2025 to allow biometrics for card payments. Under the new framework, which kicked in from April 1, 2026, banks can use biometrics and tokenisation as factors, not just SMS OTPs. That lets a Face ID or Touch ID check count, which is exactly what Apple Pay needs.

Problem three: a 2022 rule that stopped Apple taking cards at all

The friction showed up in Apple's own stores too. India's 2022 rules on recurring payments required banks to alert users 24 hours before any recurring charge, such as a subscription, and let them cancel it. Apple responded by stopping card payments for its services in India altogether, pushing users to UPI instead, and that stayed in place even after Apple opened its first Indian stores in 2023.

Reports in July this year said Apple had started accepting card payments again as part of complying with Indian rules ahead of the Apple Pay launch. That was the clearest sign the launch was close.

The last hurdle: who gets paid how much

Once the rules were sorted, the fight moved to fees. Apple reportedly wanted 20 basis points per transaction, while the bigger banks were only willing to give 15. In simple terms, that's the difference between Apple taking Rs 20 or Rs 15 on a Rs 10,000 purchase. Apple reportedly argued for a higher cut because of its premium position in India, where Android has close to 90 percent of the market.

That fight isn't fully over. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI Card are not on Apple Pay at launch, as commercial talks are still on. This is why the launch is limited to a single bank.

What it means for you

If you have an Axis Bank credit card and an iPhone XR or newer, you can add it to Apple Wallet today, and our guide on how to use Apple Pay and how it differs from UPI walks you through the setup. Everyone else has to wait for their bank to sign up.

UPI is still missing too. Apple did look at a UPI-based Apple Pay back in 2023, but that hasn't arrived. Given that UPI is how most Indians pay every day, Apple Pay for now is a card product for a smaller, more premium slice of iPhone users. Whether it becomes something bigger depends on how quickly the big banks come on board, and whether Apple ever finds its way to UPI.