Apple Pay on course to arrive in India soon after initial talks with NPCI

New Delhi: Apple Pay is likely to arrive soon in India and the tech giant, which has had preliminary discussions with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch a localised version of its digital payments app in the country, is once again firming up on the talks.

Sources told IANS on Friday that initial talks were done and the Cupertino-based iPhone maker may soon launch its Apple Pay services in India, a country which now sits at the top on the company's global map.

The iPhone customers in the country may scan QR codes and perform unified payments interface (UPI) transactions the way they do with other digital payments apps, according to sources.

Apple or NPCI did not immediately comment on the development.

India has created a significant and robust innovation ecosystem, like the unified payments interface (UPI) to benefit millions of its people.

The UPI accounted for 75 per cent of retail digital transactions in the country during 2022-23, and is projected to record 1 billion transactions per day by 2026-27.

In May, the UPI hit a record 9 billion transactions, according to the NPCI.

Apple Pay offers an easy, secure, and private way to pay on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.

One can add credit, debit, or prepaid cards from participating banks and card issuers in several countries, including 10 in the Asia-Pacific region.

Earlier this year, Apple introduced its Pay Later service in the US which allows users to split purchases into four payments with zero interest and no fees.

Users can easily track, manage, and repay their Apple Pay Later loans in one convenient location in Apple Wallet.