Apple Pay Launches in India

Apple has launched Apple Pay in India, making its contactless mobile payment service available to iPhone and Apple Watch users across the country. Customers can add supported debit and credit cards to the Wallet app and use devices to pay at contactless terminals, inside apps and on websites.

Users authorize payments with the device’s biometric authentication or passcode. Transactions use tokenization to avoid sharing actual card numbers with merchants. To enroll, customers add a supported card in Wallet and confirm it with the issuing bank or card provider. Apple Pay works with cards issued by banks and payment networks that have agreed to participate in India.

Merchants must accept near-field communication contactless payments to take Apple Pay at point-of-sale. Apps and websites must include Apple Pay checkout to accept it online. Card billing, account management, dispute resolution and customer service continue to be handled by the banks and card issuers under existing terms and agreements.

Additional Wallet features available in India include storing multiple cards, viewing recent transactions in the Wallet app and managing card settings from the device. Apple provides the Wallet app and the contactless interface on its devices while banks and card schemes manage accounts, settlements and customer service.

Apple first introduced Apple Pay in 2014 and has expanded the service to many markets since then. The India launch expands Apple’s payments footprint into a large smartphone market and comes as banks, payment firms and device makers increase support for mobile and contactless payments and use tokenization to secure card-based transactions.