Apple Pay likely to launch in India by mid-2026
What's the story
Apple is gearing up to launch its payment service, Apple Pay, in India. The company is in talks with major Indian banks including ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank. It is also collaborating with global card networks such as Mastercard and Visa for the same. The service could be launched by mid-2026, although the timeline remains flexible at this stage.
Market penetration
Apple Pay's impact on India's expansion
The launch of Apple Pay would be a major step in the company's expansion strategy for India, a country with a population of 1.4 billion and an emerging middle class. Despite having a small market share in this Android-dominated region, Apple's manufacturing and retail efforts have been gaining traction. The company is also using India as a key production base to export iPhones to the US, diversifying its manufacturing footprint away from China.
Service integration
How will Apple Pay work in India?
Apple Pay in India is likely to work with the country's state-backed Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and card-based payments. UPI dominates India's digital payment space, enabling instant money transfers and bill payments. The move would put Apple Pay in direct competition with other global players such as Google Pay, PhonePe, and Amazon.com Inc., which already have a presence in this market.
Market opportunity
Potential growth avenue for Apple's services revenue
India, with its over 750 million smartphone users and affordable mobile data, is one of the fastest-growing digital payment markets in the world. This makes it a potential growth avenue for Apple's services revenue in the region. The company is known to take a commission from Apple Pay transactions. An Apple Pay launch could also drive demand for its hardware such as iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple Watches where this feature is already integrated.