Apple Pay in India? iPhone maker in talks with banks to onboard UPI| Business News
Apple Inc. is in discussions with key banks and card networks in preparation to start Apple Pay in India, that too on UPI. Apple is known to take a cut of Apple Pay transactions. (Unsplash) The iPhone maker is in talks with ICICI Bank Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd. and Axis Bank Ltd., as it aims to introduce its payment service in India around the middle of 2026, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The timeline remains fluid, but the talks indicate an approaching launch. Apple Pay in India is expected to support India’s state-backed Unified Payments Interface (UPI) alongside card-based payments. Discussions are on with Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc., said the people on condition of anonymity. Apple declined to comment. The National Payments Corporation of India, which operates and manages UPI, didn’t respond to request for comment. Banks, and Mastercard and Visa didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Apple Pay in India The planned launch marks another step in Apple’s push to expand in the country of 1.4 billion people with a rapidly expanding middle class. While iPhone’s market share is still small in a region dominated by Android devices, Apple’s increased manufacturing and retail presence in India has helped it make inroads. Rival Alphabet Inc.’s Google Pay and Walmart Inc.’s PhonePe are among the global players already on UPI, alongside homegrown players like Paytm. In late 2025, the Reserve Bank of India set new rules that allow biometric authentication, such as fingerprint or facial recognition, for digital payments. Indian authentication mechanisms have previously largely relied on one-time passwords sent via text message. Apple Pay relies on Face ID or Touch ID to approve payments. UPI in India With more than 750 million smartphone users on cheap mobile data and a state-backed push, India is one of the world’s fastest-growing digital payments markets, serving as a potential gateway for Apple to grow services revenue in the region. The company is known to take a cut of Apple Pay transactions. Given the prevalence of mobile payments in the region, an Apple Pay launch could boost demand for its hardware. The feature is built into Apple Watches, iPhones, iPads and Macs. Apple has steadily increased its market share to about 10% of India’s smartphone sales, leaving it significant room for further growth. Apple in India Apple is also using India as a key production base to export iPhones to the US, diversifying its manufacturing footprint away from China. The move has helped shield customers in its home market from price markups due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China. At the same time, it’s rapidly expanding its retail presence in India. It opened its sixth store, a location in Mumbai, this week. Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has frequently said that India sales are growing quickly, making the market a key lever for its overall growth.
Xbox’s new CEO, nifty UltraProlink DriveLink, and UPI on PhonePe| Business News
Opening thoughts. Microsoft Corp. has a new CEO for the Xbox division—someone called Asha Sharma, who has (just in case you’d suspected this) zero previous experience in the gaming industry. XBox new CEO Asha Sharma. Sharma started out in marketing at Microsoft, then moved to operations at the home services startup Porch Group. Next, she ran Facebook Messenger at Meta Platforms Inc., served as COO of Instacart Inc. (coinciding with the IPO), and then returned to Microsoft to lead the CoreAI product. Two years later, she’s CEO of an $18 billion gaming division. She takes up the Xbox business when gaming revenue fell 9% last quarter, hardware sales fell 32%, Game Pass has flatlined after reaching the 34 million subscribers, and content+services revenue declined 5% over the holidays. This is perhaps her most challenging role yet, but it’s surely not off to a good start, as X users are up in arms claiming that she’s only started gaming this year using her publicly shared gamertag, and that her replies to X posts seem AI generated. Irrespective, nothing about Microsoft surprises me. Not one bit. EDITOR’S CORNER Cricket being the thing that keeps me sane on most days (at least till Formula 1 returns, then it’ll be that), I had to sit through UPI app Navi’s ads more than once, emphasising an essence of speed, perhaps in aspects of life where speed isn’t exactly a good fit. Anyway, that got me wondering about India’s UPI app landscape. PhonePe leads with 9,809.97 million transactions valued at ₹13,61,309.94 crore, while Google Pay (7,496.48 million at ₹9,57,752.89 crore) and distant Paytm (1,654.69 million at ₹1,76,846.14 crore) make for the three most popular UPI apps in India. I noticed Navi is just behind Paytm, clocking 678.28 million transactions valued at ₹35,928.62 crore. Month-on-month, that shows an upward trajectory in both volume and value. It must be noted that the trend is very much similar among the top players. UPI transactions have grown by leaps and bounds in India. (HT) As a consumer, the UPI space is bursting at its seams with choice. There’s BHIM, CRED, Amazon Pay, Mobikwik, Tata Pay, Kiwi, and Airtel Payments Bank, to name a few. There are some challenges, and the answers will depend on when someone decides to tackle them. Zero MDR, or Merchant Discount Rate: The policy of not charging transaction fees (on UPI via bank accounts, specifically) has accelerated adoption but stripped banks and fintechs of a sustainable revenue model. And speaking of high operational costs, maintaining a digital infrastructure for UPI costs banks an estimated ₹0.80 per transaction, which in a way disincentivises system upgrades for reliability. Fintech fatigue: Major players such as PhonePe have often cautioned that without a stable monetisation structure, the fintech ecosystem’s ability to invest in innovation and fraud prevention may be limited beyond a point. RuPay cards are unwelcome on UPI: In a stark contrast, the MDR on transactions made using RuPay credit cards on UPI, is between 1.1% and 1.9% per transaction above ₹2,000. This is supposed to be borne by the merchant, and that’s exactly why shopkeepers, businesses and establishments turn this off on their payment terminals. Having been used to a ‘free’ UPI, this change was always going to face resistance. RuPay’s challenge to Mastercard and Visa would stall if merchants don’t accept UPI payments from RuPay cards. TECH SPOTLIGHT UltraProlink DriveLink As essential as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto seem to be for in-car infotainment, not every car gets wireless connectivity for either platform. A USB cable is the only way in most cars, but the problem with that is dual-pronged—constant charging of the phone as long as it remains plugged, and the inconvenience of wired. Over the past few months, wireless adapters have emerged as viable options. Indian tech company UltraProlink (known for their impressive lineup of charging accessories, in particular), has launched its wireless adapter called DriveLink at ₹2,999. It joins something I already use—the Portronics Tune—as well as options from Ambrane, Lifelong, Zebronics and Ottocast. The most impressive thing about the DriveLink is its really compact size—no wider than a fingernail. The headline specs of the UltraProlink DriveLink are wireless CarPlay and Android Auto support, Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 5.8 GHz. This is incredibly simple to set up, and the pairing process is a one-time task that takes less than a couple of minutes. Importantly enough, every time you start the car, wireless CarPlay or Android Auto are connected in less than a minute. No video streaming support, though, and that’s a plus—we anyway have enough fools driving distracted, while watching YouTube videos or JioHotstar shows on their aftermarket music systems. On the DriveLink, Music streaming quality betrays absolutely no loss in quality or fidelity, and crucially, there is absolutely no lag in operation or responsiveness within the CarPlay or Android Auto interfaces on the infotainment system’s touchscreen. What worries me about leaving an adapter connected after I’m out of the car is how soon it powers down. Safer side—physically remove it from the USB port, before leaving the vehicle, particularly if it’s for a few days at a stretch. Leaving the best for the last, the most impressive thing about the DriveLink is its really compact size—no wider than a fingernail. The Portronics Tune is much bigger, like a USB ‘pen drive’ from a few years ago. All in all, the UltraProlink DriveLink is a must-have accessory if your car has Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, but just wired by default. Looking at you, Hyundai, Kia and many others. SECOND THOUGHTS PhonePe’s update A few months ago, the Reserve Bank of India and the National Payments Corporation of India enabled biometric authentication for UPI payments. That allows a user to authenticate UPI transactions using their phone’s fingerprint sensor or facial recognition, instead of having to punch in the pin every time. This week, this two-factor authentication (2FA) has been adopted by PhonePe. PhonePe has enabled biometric payments on its UPI app. “By integrating
