Apple Unlocks Card Payments in India After Years of Regulatory Hurdles

After a nearly five-year halt, Apple has finally started bringing back credit and debit card payments for its App Store and iCloud services in India. This phased rollout, currently supporting Visa and Mastercard, marks a significant moment for Apple as it adapts to the Reserve Bank of India strict digital payment regulations. The pause began in 2021-2022 when the RBI introduced stringent card tokenization and data localization mandates. These rules prevented companies from storing customers' actual card details and instead required them to use unique digital tokens, which had to be stored locally within India. Unable to immediately comply, Apple had to suspend direct card payments, leaving Indian users reliant on alternative methods like UPI, net banking, or Apple Account balances for their purchases and subscriptions. This crucial step is also seen as paving the way for the long-awaited launch of Apple Pay in India, a service Apple has been working to introduce for years. While Visa and Mastercard are the first to be supported, reports suggest that Apple plans to add RuPay and American Express cards in the coming months. This development underscores a broader trend where global tech giants are increasingly redesigning their services to meet country-specific regulatory requirements in key emerging markets.