Apple card payments are set to make a long-awaited comeback for App Store and iCloud purchases in India, ending nearly five years in which Indian users had no option but to rely on UPI, net banking, or a prepaid Apple ID balance to make such purchases. The development is coming on the heels of Apple Pay as a standalone digital payments business, which is also separately preparing to launch in India by October, a much faster-growing market than others where the company already operates, such as the United States and the United Kingdom.

Key Highlights

• Apple card payments are resumed to be tested for App Store and iCloud purchases in India after a 5-year gap.
• Apple Pay will be available in India by October, but will initially use Visa and Mastercard and not UPI.

Apple has embarked on testing credit/debit card payment facility with a handful of users in India, according to reports. This comes as Apple was reported to be following the Reserve Bank of India's card tokenisation guidelines which had originally prompted the ban on card payments from Apple platforms. For now, this is still a “Testing Phase” news as there has been no official comment publicly made by Apple regarding the development.

Why Card Payments Disappeared in the First Place

To understand what this change means, let's go back to 2021, when Apple dropped its card payment services in India, just after RBI's tokenisation policy was implemented. The Indian users have been mostly using the UPI or net banking system to purchase contents on the App Store and iCloud platform ever since, and some have been trying to utilize the prepaid balance option in their Apple ID as a workaround. This is an inconvenience for card-paying users for almost five years now.

What's Changed Now

Apple has reportedly complied with the RBI's mandate, which requires that only card networks are permitted to store tokenised card data, and that such data must be stored locally within India. Meeting this requirement is reportedly what has enabled Apple to bring card payments back. Once rolled out, users will be able to add a card via the payment and shipping page within their iPhone or iPad settings to make App Store or iCloud purchases directly. The feature remains in its testing phase, with Apple expected to gradually expand access to all users over the coming months.

Apple Pay Set to Launch in India by October

In a related development, Apple Pay, the company's digital payments service, is set to launch in India by October, giving Apple a foothold in the country's premium credit card segment and earning the company a fee on each transaction, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Business Standard.

To begin with, Apple Pay will support credit cards on global networks such as Visa and Mastercard, using the same framework the service runs on in other global markets. However, Apple Pay will not support UPI transactions at launch. To offer UPI functionality, Apple would need clearance from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and would also need to partner with a sponsor bank to route such transactions.

Is This Connected to Apple Pay's India Launch?

Apple has been working with Indian banks and card networks to eventually bring Apple Pay to the country, and that this ongoing effort is believed to have played a role in enabling the return of card payments for App Store and iCloud purchases as well. Apple Pay's India launch has faced repeated delays over the years, largely due to the same RBI tokenisation and data localisation requirements.

Notably, while Apple stores tokenized payment data on local servers in select regions globally - including the United States, Denmark for the European Union, and China - the company reportedly does not plan to set up similar local data mirroring infrastructure in India, given that it does not currently operate a data centre in the country and has shown no signs of building one in the near future.

Also Read: Apple's Annual India Sales Cross $10 Billion for the First Time

What This Means for Indian Users

For iPhone and iPad users in India who have relied on UPI or net banking largely out of necessity, this development offers welcome flexibility. Once card payment support rolls out more broadly, users will be able to choose whichever payment method suits them best. For now, however, access remains limited to a small test group, with Apple expected to widen availability gradually over the coming months rather than enabling it for all users at once.