Apple Brings Back Card Payments for App Store and iCloud Transactions in India After Five Years

Apple has resumed support for credit and debit card payments for App Store and iCloud transactions in India. The move marks a return of the payment methods in the country after nearly five years. The Cupertino-based tech giant had removed support for card payments in 2021 after the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) card tokenisation mandate came into effect. Since then, UPI and netbanking have been the existing payment options, alongside prepaid Apple ID balances for purchases and subscriptions.

Apple Expands Payment Options for App Store, iCloud Transactions in India

MoneyControl reported that credit and debit card payment methods for App Store and iCloud purchases have been reintroduced following Apple's compliance with the RBI's card tokenisation framework. While the report mentions that it is currently being tested with a limited set of users before a wider rollout over the next few months, Gadgets 360 was able to verify the rollout, with the additional payment options appearing on the Apple accounts of various staff members.

Following its arrival, customers can add supported credit and debit cards to pay for App Store purchases, in-app transactions, Apple Music, iCloud+, and other Apple services that previously required UPI or internet banking methods.

Apple, notably, discontinued debit and credit card payment methods in India in 2021. They were removed shortly before the RBI introduced its tokenisation mandate that prohibits merchants from storing customers' card details. Instead, payment information has to be replaced with unique tokens.

In line with the framework, only authorised card networks are permitted to store tokenised card data, which must also be stored locally within India. In the global markets, the tokenised payment data is reportedly stored on the Cupertino-based tech giant's local servers in the US, Denmark, and China. However, Apple is expected to comply with the RBI's mandate and not mirror the data for India.

But despite its arrival, there seems to be no word on the introduction of Apple Pay in India.

A previous report mentioned that its rollout had been delayed due to ongoing negotiations with banks over commission structures. Lenders were reported to be seeking a larger share of transaction revenues, which ultimately slowed down discussions around the launch of the contactless payment service in the country.