Apple Pay has finally launched in India, ending a wait of nearly a decade. Here is what the rollout means for users.

The service went live on October 1 with Axis Bank as the first banking partner. It supports eligible Axis Bank-issued Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

Users can add their cards to Apple Wallet on iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches. Payments work at contactless terminals, in apps and on websites. Mac support is coming soon.

Transactions are authorised with Face ID, Touch ID or a device passcode, without entering a PIN or one-time password. Apple says real card numbers are never shared with merchants.

A key condition from the RBI helped the launch: support for biometric authentication for card payments. Axis Bank CEO Amitabh Chaudhry called it a significant inflection point.

However, Apple Pay does not support UPI or RuPay at launch. In a market built on UPI QR codes, it starts as a niche card-payments service.

For Apple’s growing base of affluent iPhone users, the appeal is clear: a faster, safer checkout at stores like Blinkit, Croma, Zomato and Tata 1mg.