Apple Pay Now Available in India With Axis Bank Cards
Apple Pay is now available in India, which means customers with an eligible card can add it to the Wallet app on iPhone and Apple Watch for contactless and online payments.
To use Apple Pay in India, users will need an Axis Bank credit card on the Visa or Mastercard network. Earlier today, TechCrunch reported that merchants and payment terminals will need to add Apple Pay support, so the service might not work at every contactless payment location.
RuPay, India's domestic card network, is not compatible with Apple Pay. Major banks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and SBI Card have not added support either.
There have been rumors about Apple Pay expanding to India for about a decade, but regulatory issues made it difficult. India already has a popular digital payment option, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). UPI is a state-backed payment system that allows funds to be transferred instantly between two bank accounts. UPI handles approximately 84 percent of India's digital transaction volume, and it does not work with Apple Pay.
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