Apple Prepares to Bring Apple Pay to India

That’s according to a report Wednesday (Jan. 21) from the website Moneycontrol, citing sources familiar with the matter.

They say the tech giant is holding talks with card networks including Mastercard and Visa, while also working on landing regulatory approval. Assuming those approvals and commercial agreements come together, Apple hopes to launch an initial rollout during the calendar year, the report added.

Industry sources told the publication that Apple is also negotiating fee structures with card issuers for access to its payment gateway, which already operates in 89 markets.

Sources said the launch will happen in phases, the first focusing on card-based contactless payments. A later phase could involve  integration with India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system, which would require separate and more complex regulatory approvals.

The approval for a third-party application provider license for UPI involves a distinct regulatory framework and a payments architecture that differs from card-based systems, the report added.

Apple is bringing its payments product to the busy Indian market at a time when it is facing increased competition from other mobile wallet providers.

“Shoppers are using mobile wallets more often, but the new data suggests that this shift is doing less to consolidate Apple Pay’s dominance than to widen the field for its rivals,” PYMNTS wrote late last year, citing “Apple Pay @11: Usage Is Up, but Competitors Are Gaining Ground,” a PYMNTS Intelligence report.

That report found that while Apple Pay continues to expand, it’s not at the pace indicated by the larger increase in mobile wallet use. The study showed weekly in-store mobile wallet use has more than doubled year over year.

At the same time, Apple Pay’s share of eligible in-store transactions came up 10.2%, up from 8.9% the previous year. The payment method’s annual in-store sales volume climbed to an estimated $450 billion, compared to $268 billion in 2024.

“But the report stresses that these gains reflect a wider trend across digital wallets, not a unique acceleration for Apple Pay,” PYMNTS wrote. “Competitors such as Google Pay, PayPal and Cash App also nearly doubled their user counts, narrowing the gap in overall adoption.”