Apple resumes card payments for App Store purchases in India
What's the story
Apple has reintroduced credit and debit card payment options for its App Store and iCloud services in India, as per Moneycontrol. The move comes after a five-year hiatus, during which the tech giant's customers could only use UPI and net banking for transactions. The company had suspended card payments in 2021 due to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) card tokenization rule.
Regulatory adherence
Card payments reintroduced after compliance with RBI's tokenization rule
Apple's reintroduction of card payments comes after it complied with the RBI's card tokenization rule. The regulation mandates that only card networks can store tokenized data, which must also be stored locally in India. Currently, the feature is being tested with select users and will be rolled out to all users over the coming months.
Expansion hurdles
Apple Pay launch in India still pending
Apple has been in talks with banks to launch Apple Pay in India. However, the launch has been delayed due to negotiations over commission rates and regulatory hurdles. Apple will not mirror tokenized payment data in India due to strict RBI regulations. While the company holds global payment data locally in the US, Denmark, and China, it lacks an Indian data center. This data compliance hurdle has stalled the launch of Apple Pay in India for three years now.