Apple Pay is an incredible useful feature which is a perfect digital wallet solution. It is contactless and tap-to-pay! With this, you can make payments using iPhone or Apple Watch. Just like in India, we have UPI system, people in foreign countries use Apple Pay as an alternative. There are lot of people in India who are curious about Apple Pay working in India or there’s something similar. This article is an answer to just that! Let’s get started:
Does Apple Pay Currently Work In India?
The short answer is no! Apple Pay does not work in India for card-based payments. You can not add credit or debit cards to your wallet to make contactless payments.
Even if you see the Apple support website, you can see the list of eligible countries and regions that support Apple Pay. India is unfortunately not one of them. Even if you many communities like Quora or Reddit, people say that Indian banking or financial regulations are the reasons it’s not in India for now.
If you see many wallet apps in India, they are mostly limited to storing passes, tickets, transit cards, and more. You can barely add any debit or credit cards for payments. Let’s explore the reasons why Apple Pay has not yet launched in India.
Reasons Apple Pay Hasn’t Launched In India!
Several intersecting factors explain why Apple Pay hasn’t launched in India:
Banking and Government Rules
India has strict rules for how digital payments should work. This is especially true when it comes to card security, privacy, and authentication. Some of the features Apple Pay uses don’t match these Indian rules.
Banks Not Ready Yet
Apple Pay need to partner with Indian banks and other payment companies. So far, these partnerships haven’t fully happened. India also uses different types of card networks. We use RuPay instead of the international ones Apple usually works with. This makes it harder for Apple Pay to fit in.
India Already Has UPI
UPI is already super popular in India. People use it to make payments, scanning QR codes, and more. This is done all without needing credit or debit cards. Because UPI works so well, there’s less need for Apple Pay. Indian regulators prefer to use homegrown systems like UPI for security and cost reasons.
India already has strong digital payment systems like UPI. Plus, Apple still needs to work out rules and bank partnerships.
Is There Any “Way Around” To Enable Apple Pay in India?
Because Apple Pay is not officially supported, there is no legitimate way to make full Apple Pay work with Indian-issued cards or merchants. Any method that claims to “hack” or “enable” it would likely violate terms of service. So always be careful be with it.
However, this is what you can try instead:
Use a foreign bank/card (in a country where Apple Pay is supported)
If you hold a bank account or card in a country where Apple Pay is supported, you can use Apple Pay with it. You can add that card to your Apple Wallet and use it where Apple Pay is accepted abroad. But in India, many won’t accept NFC payments via Apple Pay or may not validate foreign cards easily. You also have to be careful if you are using foreign cards, as they may incur foreign exchange charges.
Simulators or emulation (not recommended)
You can jailbreak an iPhone to change region settings to trick iOS into allowing card addition. But these are insecure, unsupported, and risky. You can lose warranty and even expose your card data to leak. We don’t recommend those.
Wait for Apple/banks to roll it out
A more practical “way around” is to monitor announcements. If Apple negotiates with Indian banks and regulators, it could launch Apple Pay in India in the future. Many users hope for that. You can also check Apple Support Community for additional and updated details.
Top Alternatives For Apple Pay In India
Since Apple Pay isn’t available, here are alternatives:
UPI / UPI apps
This is the most popular mode of digital payments in India. You can use apps like Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, etc. UPI supports peer-to-merchant, QR code payments, etc.
Bank apps/card apps
Many banks offer their own mobile apps where you can manage and pay using their cards or do bank transfers directly.
Wallet apps/e-wallets
Apps like Paytm, Mobikwik, Amazon Pay, etc., allow you to load money and use it for purchases. Note that these have limitations (transaction caps, withdraw limit, etc.).
Card + contactless / NFC payments
Even though Apple Pay isn’t active, some merchants accept contactless card taps (Visa contactless, Mastercard Pay Wave) if you physically have the card. That’s separate from Apple Pay but still a tap-based method.
How Long Do We Have To Wait For Apple Pay In India?
It’s uncertain, but possible. This depends on how the legal, regulatory, and banking cooperation evolves. Nevertheless, Apple Pay isn’t coming to India at least this year. Keep visiting this space for more details:
Apple has expanded Apple Pay gradually across many countries; India is a large market. It’s likely present in their roadmap even though we do not know anything about the timeline.
Rumours Of UPI-Based Apple Pay For iPhone In India
Apple Pay is not officially available in India right now. But there are many rumours that Apple might be working on a special Indian version of it. Instead of using credit or debit cards like in other countries, this version might work with UPI.
Here are all the details:
Apple Is Talking to Indian authorities
Some reports indicate that Apple has resumed discussions with NPCI and Indian regulators. The goal is to make a system where iPhone users can pay using UPI directly from their phones.
UPI-based version instead of cards
In other countries, Apple Pay connects your credit or debit cards to your phone. But in India, it might work differently. Here, users can scan QR codes or make UPI transfers directly, eliminating the need for extra apps.
Face ID for UPI payments
Another rumour suggests that Apple may enable users to verify UPI payments using Face ID or Touch ID. This means you could scan a QR code and pay using your face or fingerprint.
Pay directly from Wallet or Camera
Some reports also suggest that Apple wants to let users scan a QR code and pay directly from the iPhone’s Wallet app or camera. If this is try, there won’t be any need to open Google Pay, PhonePe, or other apps.
There’s no official launch date for this. Apple has not confirmed which banks or partners it’s working with.
Why UPI-Based Apple Pay Makes Sense
There are a few reasons why this idea actually fits India very well:
- Everyone uses UPI in India. If Apple builds on top of that, it can easily connect with what people already use.
- Instead of building an entirely new system, Apple can just use UPI’s existing network.
- With Face ID or Touch ID, UPI payments on iPhone could become even more safe and easy.
- Working with UPI means Apple won’t face big issues with Indian laws or the RBI.
Conclusion
In the end, even though you cannot use Apple Pay in India, there are some amazing alternatives available. I personally use UPI almost daily and it works really well and smooth.
There is no reliable “hack” or workaround, and attempting one would be risky. In the future, Apple Pay might come to India but we don’t know for sure when.
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