How big is Apple Pay? US payment giant to enter India as UPI dominates digital payments

Apple Pay is preparing to enter India nearly 12 years after Apple launched its mobile payment service in the US, potentially opening a new market for one of the world’s most widely used digital wallets.

Apple is poised to launch Apple Pay in India as early as October 2026, beginning with credit cards issued by Axis Bank, as reported by Reuters. 

Apple is also in discussions with HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, although commercial terms have not yet been finalised. Apple and the three banks did not confirm the planned launch to Reuters.

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Apple Pay's global portfolio

Apple Pay was launched in the US in October 2014, initially allowing users to make contactless payments with compatible iPhones and Apple Watches. Since then, Apple has expanded the service across major markets in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

Apple said in January 2026 that Apple Pay was available in 89 markets, supported by more than 11,000 banks and network partners and more than 20 local payment networks. The company also said Apple Pay generated more than $100 billion in incremental merchant sales globally during 2025 and helped eliminate more than $1 billion in fraud. These figures are based on Apple and industry data.

In the US, Apple Pay has built a substantial user base. A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau analysis found that roughly three in four US iPhone users had activated Apple Pay, while an estimated 55.8 million US consumers used it for an in-store payment in April 2023. US consumers spent an estimated $199 billion at stores using Apple Pay in 2022, up from $91.7 billion in 2021.

What Apple Pay's India launch means

India, however, presents a very different payments landscape. Apple Pay will enter a market dominated by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which has become the backbone of everyday digital transactions.

UPI processed 24.5 billion transactions worth ₹29.82 lakh crore in August 2026, according to official data cited by Reuters. It accounted for 84% of India's digital payment volumes and around 49% of global real-time payment volumes. More than 550 million users were using UPI, while PhonePe and Google Pay together accounted for about 80% of UPI transaction value in August.

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Apple's initial strategy therefore appears focused on the country's credit-card ecosystem rather than directly competing with UPI. The first rollout would involve Axis Bank credit cards, while Apple continues discussions with HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. Axis Bank is India's fourth-largest credit-card issuer.

For Apple, the India launch would add another major market to an already extensive Apple Pay portfolio. For Indian consumers, it would introduce Apple's familiar tap-to-pay experience to iPhones and Apple Watches but initially within a payments ecosystem where UPI already operates at enormous scale.