Apple is reportedly in talks with banks and regulators in India to launch Apple Pay and its credit card, Apple Card. The company’s CEO, Tim Cook, met with HDFC Bank CEO and MD Sashidhar Jagdishan during his trip to India in April.
Two sources familiar with the matter said that Apple is looking for a partner bank in India to issue Apple Card. The company is also seeking regulatory approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Apple Card is a co-branded credit card issued by Goldman Sachs and Apple. It was launched in the United States in 2019. The card offers a number of features that are designed to appeal to consumers, including no annual fee, no late fees, and daily cash rewards.
If Apple is able to launch Apple Card in India, it would be a major coup for the company. India is a huge market with a growing middle class. Apple Card could appeal to a lot of Indian consumers who are looking for a credit card with a good rewards program and no annual fee.
However, there are still a number of challenges that Apple will need to overcome before it can launch Apple Card in India. The company will need to find a partner bank that is willing to work with it, and it will need to get regulatory approval from the RBI.
The technology giant is also holding discussions with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to possibly launch Apple Pay in the country, a third source told Moneycontrol. It is not clear whether these discussions are regarding its credit card being powered by NPCI’s Rupay platform or whether this is for Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The advantage of launching a Rupay Credit Card is that it can be linked to UPI as well. In India, only banks are allowed to launch credit cards. UPI allows customers to make seamless and fast payments by scanning QR codes through mobile phones.
The Cupertino-based tech giant had also held discussions with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the modalities of the card, Moneycontrol has learned. According to one of the sources mentioned above, the regulator has asked Apple to follow the regular procedure for co-branded credit cards, without offering any special consideration for the company.
According to the sources, Apple is looking to launch its Apple Card, a co-branded credit card with HDFC Bank in the country. The discussions are in the early stages and a decision has not been arrived at, the sources added. The nature of the discussion, as well as when Apple intends to launch this in India, could not be determined.
Apple was looking at significant deviations from the standard co-branded credit card model in India, one of the sources said. It is not clear whether the company is willing to make those compromises in order to launch the card in India, the source added…
Unlike in the US, Apple cannot bring a plain card with just Apple’s logo and the customer’s name on the front. The regulations will require that Apple takes the back seat and the bank will take the driver’s seat. The Goldman Sachs name and Mastercard also appear on the backside of the Apple Card in the US. The card also does not have any card number printed on it. These are not liberties that Apple can take in India as per the current co-branded credit card regulations in India.
MacDailyNews Take: While it might not be as pretty (or secure*, due to outmoded government regulations), Apple Card will eventually launch in India, as will Apple Pay.
*The physical Apple Card is a laser-etched titanium card with no visible number anywhere. With no card number, CVV security code, expiration date, or signature on the card, Apple Card is more secure than any other physical credit card. All this information is easily accessible in Wallet for use in apps and on websites.
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