Apple has reportedly resumed credit and debit card payments for App Store and iCloud transactions in India after a gap of nearly five years, following compliance with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) card tokenisation norms.
According to a report, the company is currently testing the feature with a select group of users and is expected to expand the rollout to all users over the next few months.
Apple had discontinued card payments for App Store and iCloud purchases in India in 2021 after the RBI introduced its card tokenisation framework. Since then, users have largely relied on UPI and net banking to make payments for Apple’s digital services.
Reports said the Cupertino-based technology giant has now enabled card payments after complying with the RBI’s tokenisation mandate. Under the regulator’s rules, only authorized card networks can store tokenised card data, which must also be stored locally within India.
The development comes as Apple continues discussions with banks to launch Apple Pay in India. According to reports, the company has also been working with card networks to meet the RBI’s tokenisation and data localization requirements, paving the way for the return of card-based payments for its services.
Also Read: Apple stops accepting card payments from Indian users on App Store
In a separate development Bloomberg reported that Apple Inc. is in negotiations to purchase chips from two Chinese semiconductor makers on a Pentagon blacklist to help reduce the impact of a global memory shortage that’s forced the company to raise prices across its product line.
