According to two sources with access to the matter, Apple is planning to speak with the NPCI soon about launching its payments service, Apple Pay, in the South Asian market. Apple is attempting to enter a crowded industry that is dominated by Walmart’s PhonePe, Google’s GPay, and Paytm.
Tim Cook, the company’s chief executive, met with bankers on a recent trip to India. According to people with knowledge of the situation, the company is working on a localized version of Apple Pay that is built on top of UPI, a common payment method in the South Asian market. The UPI platform is managed by NPCI, a special division of the Reserve Bank of India, India’s central bank.
According to the people, who asked for privacy because they were discussing private things, Apple wants Indian iPhone users to be able to scan QR codes and start UPI transactions without using any PSP apps. A request for comment sent to Apple on May 24 received no response. There hasn’t been any prior information about Apple Pay resuming talks with India.
Over the years, the iPhone manufacturer has had numerous discussions with the authorities about introducing Apple Pay In April of this year, it opened its first set of retail outlets in India. Corporate leaders announced to the media more than six years ago that Apple intended to introduce Apple Pay across the nation, but they never followed through.
One person with knowledge of the situation claims that Apple recently brought up the possibility of using Face ID for UPI verification on iPhones during meetings with select Indian authorities.
The insiders emphasized that the company has not yet made a final choice regarding its partners or launch date, indicating that a launch is most likely still several quarters away.
While India is a small market for Apple, the potential introduction of Apple Pay there is unlikely to upend the ecosystem’s established players, who handle more than 8 billion transactions monthly on the UPI platform. Android is installed on more than 90% of all smartphones in India.
