Apple has launched Apple Pay in India with Axis Bank, bringing its payment service to one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing digital payments markets. The rollout gives the technology giant a new opportunity to deepen its ecosystem in India, where its smartphone market share has grown significantly but where digital payments are already dominated by locally developed infrastructure.

Apple Pay Starts With a Limited Indian Rollout

The initial launch supports eligible Axis Bank credit cards operating on the Visa and Mastercard networks. Users can add supported cards to Apple Wallet and use compatible iPhones and Apple Watches for contactless payments, while acceptance depends on merchants and payment terminals supporting Apple Pay.

India’s domestic RuPay card network is not supported in the initial rollout. Major banks including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI Card also have not joined the service at launch, limiting Apple Pay’s immediate reach.

Axis Bank is India’s fourth-largest credit card issuer. The bank had approximately 16.26 million active credit cards in July, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India, giving Apple a meaningful starting customer base as it establishes the service in the country.

UPI Remains Apple’s Biggest Competitive Challenge

Apple Pay is entering a market with a fundamentally different payments structure from many of the markets where the service is already established. India’s Unified Payments Interface, or UPI, enables instant bank-to-bank payments and has become the dominant digital payment system in the country.

UPI accounts for approximately 84% of India’s digital transaction volume. Unlike Apple Pay’s initial card-based model, UPI is built around direct bank-account transfers and is widely integrated into everyday payments. That established infrastructure creates a significant challenge for Apple as it seeks to persuade consumers and merchants to add another payment option.

The competitive environment is also evolving rapidly. In August, UPI processed 24.51 billion transactions worth 29.82 trillion rupees, equivalent to about $314.21 billion, highlighting the scale of India’s existing digital payments ecosystem.

Apple Seeks Broader Banking Partnerships

The Axis Bank launch is expected to represent the first stage of a broader rollout. Apple has been in discussions with larger private-sector banks including HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, although commercial terms had not been finalized with them before the initial launch.

For Apple, expanding the number of participating banks will be critical to increasing Apple Pay’s addressable customer base. The company’s presence in India has also strengthened in recent years, with its smartphone market share reaching 8%, double its level in 2022.

The rollout therefore connects two strategic trends for Apple: growing hardware adoption in India and the expansion of services around its device ecosystem. The next indicators to watch will be additional bank partnerships, support for more card networks, merchant acceptance and the pace at which Indian consumers begin using Apple Pay alongside UPI. The scale of that adoption will determine whether the service develops into a meaningful payments business in India or remains a relatively limited card-based offering.