Apple Pay is expected to launch in India by October 2026, as reported earlier this month by Business Standard. At launch, only Visa and MasterCard will be supported for Tap to Pay, with no UPI support.
It appears that one of the popular banks in India, Axis Bank, has already started preparing for Apple Pay, as some users on Reddit and X with specific card variants such as Select, Ace, and Rewards now see a Terms & Conditions page for Axis Bank Credit and Debit Cards when attempting to add the card to Apple Wallet. The card still fails to be added, as the service has not officially launched, but this new T&C page suggests that the launch is imminent.
This could mean that Axis Bank will be amongst the first few banks to support Apple Pay in India at launch. The timing for the launch is notable, given the growing market for iPhones in the country. A new report from Counterpoint Research shows that 12% of smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2025 were from Apple.
Users in India mainly rely on UPI (Unified Payments Interface) for their transactions with their iPhones, so Apple might bring support for it soon. Android devices have had support for Tap-to-Pay via NFC for a while now, with Samsung Pay being one of the first services to support it.
Since Apple Pay is a native iPhone feature, users can simply double-click the side button on their iPhone, authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID, and hold the iPhone near the NFC reader. This method is effectively faster, as it removes the need to open a separate UPI app, scan the code, and enter the amount along with the PIN.
Are you excited to try out Apple Pay when it launches in India? Let us know in the comments or tweet us at @appleosophy. Be sure to download the Appleosophy App from the App Store or visit our website to stay updated with the latest Apple news!
