Apple starts India payments service to take on Google, Paytm

APPLE started its payments service in India, seeking to boost its presence in a key growth market with more than a billion consumers.

Apple Pay is first launching in partnership with local lender Axis Bank, the US tech giant said in a statement on Wednesday (Sep 30). That means Axis Bank customers can store their credit or debit cards in the Apple Wallet on iPhones and Apple Watches, and then use their device to make payments.

The Cupertino, California-based company is going after the rapidly expanding middle class of the world’s most populous country. While the market is dominated by less expensive Android devices, Apple’s increasing manufacturing and retail presence is helping it gain users among the more affluent Indian consumers.

Apple Pay relies on Face ID or Touch ID to approve payments in-person via tap-to-pay, on websites and through apps.

In time, the service will expand to support other banks’ cards as well as state-backed Unified Payments Interface, or UPI, Bloomberg News reported previously. UPI, which allows Indian customers to instantly transfer money and pay bills, dominates India’s digital payments space.

Rival Alphabet’s Google Pay, Walmart-controlled PhonePe and homegrown Paytm dominate India’s crowded payments space.

SEE ALSO

Apple supplier Tata tightens internal controls after data breach, sources say

Apple, armed with new Macs, is taking on Microsoft and Nvidia in a rush to lower AI costs

Asean Intelligence

Get insights into businesses across South-east Asia

Get the free report

Apple Pay could further boost demand for Apple’s highly aspirational but pricey devices. The firm has grown its store network in India, and operates six company-owned shops in India, including in New Delhi and the financial capital of Mumbai. It has also increased the number of partner stores.

Its expanding manufacturing operations in India have helped the company move 25 per cent of global iPhone output to the country. Apple is increasingly using India as an export hub for US-bound iPhones after President Donald Trump ratcheted up a trade war with China. BLOOMBERG