Launch · Financial Services

Apple Pay to launch in India by late 2026

By Startup Enthusiast · 10 August 2026

What they do

Apple Pay is a mobile payment service that lets users store cards in Apple Wallet

It will debut in India around September or October 2026, initially supporting credit cards on Visa and Mastercard

UPI support is not available at launch; Apple needs NPCI approval and a sponsor bank for UPI transactions

Apple Pay is expected to debut in India around late September or October 2026.
The initial launch will support credit cards on global networks Visa and Mastercard.
UPI (Unified Payments Interface, a real-time payment system) will not be supported at launch.
Apple needs NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) approval and a sponsor bank partner to route UPI transactions.
Apple is seeking an interchange fee of 15-20 bps (basis points; 1 bps = 0.01%) per credit card transaction; some issuers proposed about 10 bps.
The rollout will happen in phases: the first phase focuses on card-based contactless payments via NFC (Near Field Communication) at PoS (point-of-sale) terminals.
Apple Pay lets users store eligible debit/credit cards in Apple Wallet and pay via iPhone or Apple Watch at NFC terminals.
Apple Pay is available in over 90 markets globally.

Pine Labs CEO Amrish Rau expects Apple Pay to enter India before the end of 2026, and a wider payment mix could help Pine Labs as credit card use rises alongside UPI.
Cards issued in India currently cannot be added to Apple Wallet for Apple Pay.
Apple first showed interest in bringing Apple Pay to India around 2017, with Eddy Cue saying Apple 'definitely' wanted to launch there.
By late 2018, Apple paused UPI-based payment plans due to RBI (Reserve Bank of India) data localisation rules and technical/design issues with UPI.
In July 2026, Apple resumed accepting credit/debit card payments for App Store and iCloud in India after complying with the RBI card tokenisation framework.

Apple Pay lets users store eligible debit/credit cards in Apple Wallet and pay via iPhone or Apple Watch at NFC terminals.
Apple Pay is available in over 90 markets globally.

Apple Pay will launch in India in phases, starting with card-based contactless payments via NFC at PoS terminals.
Apple will seek NPCI approval and a sponsor bank partner to enable UPI transactions in a later phase.