Apple Pay Could Launch in India Next Month With Axis Bank Credit Cards, Report Claims

Apple Pay has been live in the US for the last 12 years, having been launched by the Cupertino-based tech giant in September 2014 as its proprietary digital payment service. Over the years, the company expanded the availability of Apple Pay to different parts of the world. However, it has yet to make its way to India's digital payments market, which has seen exponential growth in the last decade. However, rumours regarding the possible launch of Apple Pay in India have been surfacing online for a while. Now, a new report claims that the tech giant is planning to launch Apple Pay in India next month in collaboration with an Indian bank.

Apple Pay Could Launch in India in October With Axis Bank Credit Cards

Citing three sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reports that the tech giant might launch Apple Pay in India in October. The company will reportedly offer tap-and-pay functionality with Axis Bank, one of the largest credit providers in the country. Apple's payments service will initially only support Axis Bank credit card transactions, the report further highlighted.

Apart from the Mumbai-based financial institution, Apple is said to be in talks with other major banking and financial institutions in India, including HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. However, the report claims that neither of the latter banks has accepted the commercial terms offered by Apple. Further, the tech giant reportedly plans to add more lenders in the future via “direct, bank-by-bank deals”, similar to the phased rollout strategy it adopted for other markets.

While Apple has yet to confirm the anticipated launch of its payments service in India, recent reports have also suggested that Apple Pay will be launched in the country in the second half of 2026, in either September or October. The new report is in line with previous rumours. However, one must take these details with a pinch of salt.

Recently, a report highlighted that Apple Pay will initially support credit card transactions on two networks, namely Visa and Mastercard. Apple has reportedly been negotiating with large card-issuing financial institutions in India on how much revenue it might earn from the contactless transactions going through Apple Pay. Once rolled out, users will be able to add compatible credit cards to their Apple Wallet and simply make payments at points-of-sale (PoS) using their iPhone or Apple Watch without opening a separate app for the same.