Apple Pay in India: Banks, Cards, Devices and How It Works

What Apple Pay is

Apple Pay lets you pay with a card stored in the Wallet app on your iPhone, Apple Watch or iPad. In shops you tap your device on a contactless card terminal. In apps and on websites you tap an Apple Pay button instead of typing your card details.

Your actual card number is never stored on the device or on Apple’s servers, and merchants never see it. Each device gets its own token, and you confirm every payment with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. Our guide to whether Apple Pay is safe in India explains how this fits RBI’s tokenisation rules.

What works at launch

Only eligible Axis Bank credit cards can be added, so not every card in its range works yet. The quickest way to check yours is to try adding it in the Wallet app. The full picture, including where the other banks stand, is in which banks support Apple Pay in India.

Which devices you need

• iPhone: iPhone XR or later with iOS 18 or later.
• Apple Watch: Apple Watch Series 6 or later with watchOS 11 or later.
• iPad: supported for paying in apps and online.
• Mac: Apple says support is coming soon.

You can add an eligible card from the Axis Bank app or from the Wallet app. Our step-by-step guide on how to use Apple Pay in India covers setup on iPhone and Apple Watch.

Where you can pay

In shops, Apple Pay works at card terminals that accept contactless payments, marked with the contactless symbol. Online and in apps, it appears as a payment option at checkout wherever the merchant has turned it on.

Merchants Apple named at launch include:

• Apple Store locations
• Blinkit
• Chaayos
• Comet
• Croma
• Interflora
• Ixigo
• Le15 Patisserie
• Reliance brands
• Tata 1mg
• Zomato

Apple also worked with payment providers including Cashfree, JusPay, Mswipe, Paytm, PayU, Pine Labs, Razorpay, Worldline to switch Apple Pay on across their merchant networks. Axis Bank says its customers will be able to pay at merchants, in apps and online over the next few weeks as the rollout continues.

Why there is no UPI

UPI is how most Indians pay digitally. NPCI data shows it handled 24.51 billion transactions worth ₹29.82 lakh crorein August 2026 alone. Apple Pay in India is built on cards instead, so it doesn’t touch UPI at all.

Adding UPI would need approval from NPCI and a sponsor bank to route the payments, MediaNama reported, and Apple hasn’t announced either. For most people that means Apple Pay sits alongside their UPI app rather than replacing it. We compare the two in Apple Pay vs UPI.

What it costs

Apple says there is no fee to use Apple Pay. Axis Bank says card rewards and benefits continue to apply when you pay through Apple Pay, so you earn the same points as with the physical card.

The fees are between Apple and the banks. TechCrunch and MediaNama report that Apple asked Indian banks for about 15 to 20 basis points (0.15 to 0.20%) per transaction, while larger banks offered around 10. Apple hasn’t confirmed these figures, but the dispute explains why only one bank is live so far.

What it means for businesses

For shops with contactless terminals, Apple Pay mostly works already, because the terminal treats it like a contactless card. Online stores and iOS apps need their payment gateway to enable it and a few Apple requirements met. Our guide on how to accept Apple Pay in India covers terminals, websites and apps step by step.

If you run your checkout on Razorpay, our Razorpay integration team can set up Apple Pay alongside your existing payment methods.

What to expect next

• More banks. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI Card are the ones to watch.
• Mac support, which Apple says is coming soon.
• Wider card types. Debit and RuPay cards are the biggest gaps for Indian users.
• UPI, which has no announced timeline and depends on NPCI.

We will update this series as support changes. Browse the rest of our tech news coverage for other launches affecting Indian businesses.