Apple has plans to launch its own credit card in India.
Current situation
In India, only banks can launch credit cards while UPI is for customers to make seamless and fast payments by scanning QR codes through mobile phones.
Apple has held talks with the Reserve Bank of India over the modalities of the card.
The RBI reportedly asked the company to follow regular procedure for co-branded credit cards.
Collaboration with HDFC Bank
CEO Tim Cook recently met HDFC Bank CEO and managing director Sashidhar Jagdishan.
Discussions, which are in the early stages, had to pertain with the company’s plans to launch its co-branded credit card with HDFC Bank in India.
Why India?
Apple is having talks with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch ‘Apple Pay’ in the country.
This development is not surprising considering India has been Apple’s point of focus for a while now.
Its sales in India touched around ₹50,000 crore in the financial year 2022-23.
It has also opened two exclusive stores in Mumbai and Delhi.
This is, not to mention, it has been shifting a significant portion of iPhone production to India over China.
Limitations
For now only banks can issue credit cards to customers In India.
Hence, Apple cannot introduce a card with its logo and customer’s name on the front.
In the US, the brand names of Goldman Sachs and Mastercard appear on the Apple card.
Positives
Speaking of benefits, the Apple card is integrated with Apple Pay and the reward will be deposited into the Apple wallet.
This card also does not have any annual fees.
In the United States, the company lets its card users buy the products in installments without interest.
