Apple prepares to launch Apple Pay in India with Axis Bank — TechCrunch
Apple is preparing to launch the Apple Pay payment service in India on Tuesday, September 29, with Axis Bank as its first banking partner. As TechCrunch reports, the initial rollout will be limited: the service will support only eligible Axis Bank Visa and Mastercard cards.
Cards of India’s RuPay payment network will not be supported at launch. Apple Pay payments will be available at merchants and payment terminals connected to the service. Axis Bank customers whose cards are eligible will be able to add credit cards to the Wallet app and pay for purchases online or contactlessly at compatible terminals.
Limited bank support
According to the publication’s sources, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI Card do not plan to support Apple Pay at launch because negotiations over commercial terms are ongoing. Apple, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI Card did not respond to requests for comment.
TechCrunch’s sources also claim that Apple seeks to receive a fee of around 20 basis points from transactions. This is a substantial share of the approximately 40–50 basis points of margin in the payments segment. This fee model corresponds to Apple Pay’s terms in other markets.
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Competition with UPI
India’s digital payments market is largely based on the Unified Payments Interface, or UPI, a state-backed system of direct transfers between bank accounts. It allows payments for goods and services without using cards, including by scanning QR codes.
Apple Pay, by contrast, uses a card-based model and requires separate integration with issuing banks and payment infrastructure operators. As a result, payment acceptance at the initial stage may be uneven: a card may work at one connected terminal but be declined at another if its acquiring bank has not activated the service.
Apple is expanding its presence in India by increasing iPhone sales, local production and its retail network. According to Counterpoint Research, Apple’s share of India’s smartphone market by value was 28% in 2025, compared with 23% a year earlier.
