Apple Pay to Launch in India by October Without UPI Support

Apple is preparing to launch its digital payments service, Apple Pay, in India by October, but the platform will not support the country's ubiquitous Unified Payments Interface (UPI) at launch. The service will begin by supporting credit cards issued on global networks such as Visa and Mastercard, using the same near-field communication (NFC) framework Apple runs in other markets.

According to multiple reports, Apple has been readying the launch for the end of September or October. Users will be able to add eligible cards to the Apple Wallet app and make contactless payments by tapping their device at point-of-sale terminals. The service is already available in more than 90 markets worldwide.

The absence of UPI support at launch is a significant limitation. To offer UPI-based payments, Apple would need clearance from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and would have to partner with a sponsor bank to route such transactions. Consequently, the service's initial footprint in India is likely to remain limited to NFC-enabled terminals and card-based online payment flows, leaving the country's QR code-driven UPI ecosystem largely unaffected.