Apple has finally resumed transaction support for credit and debit card payments that take place on the App Store and iCloud in India. This comes after a pause of nearly five years in the country. This service was taken down by the company as a reaction to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) card tokenisation mandate that came into force in 2021. Since then, the only available options were through UPI and net banking on the platform; apart from that, customers were also able to do it through prepaid Apple ID balances for subscriptions and purchases.
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Apple Brings Back the Payment Options
According to MoneyControl, credit and debit card services have now resumed again on Apple's platforms like the App Store and iCloud after the company has complied with the RBI's mandate for card tokenisation. Although for now it is being tested with a limited set of users only before a full rollout is in swing, which is expected to happen over the next few months. The Daily Jagran checked for the same to verify this claim, and additional payment options were showing in the app upon checking on the iPhones of various staff members. I have attached the screenshot for the same below, and it shows under the Add Payment option.
The return of card payments means Apple users in India can once again add eligible credit and debit cards to their accounts. Once set up, these cards can be used to pay for App Store downloads, in-app purchases, Apple Music, iCloud+, and other Apple services, removing the need to rely solely on UPI or internet banking.
Apple had dropped support for credit and debit cards in India in 2021, around the time the Reserve Bank of India's card tokenisation rules were introduced. Under the new framework, merchants are not allowed to store customers' actual card details. Instead, every transaction has to use a unique token, which is designed to make card payments more secure.
The RBI's guidelines also specify that only authorised card networks can store tokenised card data, and that data must remain within India. In several other markets, Apple reportedly stores tokenised payment information on servers located in the US, Denmark and China. For India, however, the company is expected to follow the RBI's requirements without mirroring that data on overseas servers.
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Even though card payments are making a comeback, Apple Pay is still missing from the picture. The company has not shared any timeline for bringing its contactless payment service to India.
Previous reports suggested the delay has little to do with the technology itself. Instead, discussions with Indian banks over revenue sharing are said to have slowed things down. Banks were reportedly seeking a bigger share of transaction earnings, preventing both sides from reaching an agreement on the service's launch.