Apple has been looking to launch a payment feature called Apple Pay in India, but has not been successful in negotiating terms with the local government. Well, according to people familiar with the matter, the company is again negotiating with local regulators, specifically NPCI — a special unit of the Reserve Bank of India, the central bank.
Currently, all payment methods in the country are based on UPI, which is a popular payment method in the South Asian market. Walmart’s PhonePe, Google’s GPay and Paytm are all UPI compliant and used in India.
Tim Cook reportedly met with Indian authorities to discuss a localized version of Apple Pay – one that would allow customers to scan QR codes and Initiate a UPI transaction. Apple also wants users to use the Face ID feature to confirm UPI transactions.
But don’t hold your breath. As far as we know, Apple is not in talks with local partners (banks), and the Indian market is fairly low on the company’s priority list. About 22% of mobile devices run Android, so the country is a small market for Apple Pay.
Via
