Apple rolled out Apple Pay in India on Tuesday, partnering with Axis Bank, the country's third-largest private lender. Initial support covers Visa and Mastercard cards only, not the domestic RuPay network, and merchants such as Zomato, Blinkit and Croma are enabled.
Apple is reportedly seeking a fee of about 20 basis points per transaction. Major banks including HDFC, ICICI and SBI are not on board yet, amid disagreements over Apple's commercial terms.
The launch targets India's growing base of affluent iPhone users; Apple holds 28% of the country's smartphone market by value. But it faces an uphill battle against UPI, the state-backed system that handles most digital payments.