// 9TO5MAC — MOBILE & WEB

Apple Pay now rolling out to Axis Bank customers in India [U]

Published: 09/30/2026, 01:19 AM

Update, 10:13 p.m. ET: Apple has now confirmed the launch. The original story follows below. Nearly twelve years to the day after Apple first announced Apple Pay, the feature is now rolling out in India, one of the few major markets where it had yet to become available. Here are the details. Earlier today, TechCrunch reported that Apple Pay would launch in India “later Tuesday with Axis Bank as its initial banking partner.” Now, as spotted by Aaron Perris on X, Apple has begun enabling Apple Pay support in India on its servers, suggesting the rollout is officially underway. Apple Pay is now rolling out in India after 12 years, as per Apple's backend pic.twitter.com/Takw6hYe7o According to an Apple support article, there are now 101 countries and regions that support Apple Pay, including India. India has quickly become one of the most strategically important countries for Apple, both in terms of manufacturing and consumer growth. In addition to expanding its retail presence and repeatedly highlighting strong growth in the country during quarterly earnings calls, Apple and its suppliers have been shifting more iPhone production to India as part of a broader effort to diversify manufacturing beyond China. That expansion has not been without its controversies. Apple is currently fighting an antitrust case brought by the Competition Commission of India over its App Store practices, and the company has also refused to comply with a government order requiring smartphone makers to preinstall a state-run app on new devices. Apple manufacturing partner Tata Electronics has also recently come under fire after an Indian pollution regulator alleged that wastewater from one of its iPhone component factories contaminated groundwater and nearby farmland.