Plans of the iconic tech conglomerate, Apple, to expand its credit card services, Apple Card, to the vibrant Indian market have been recently hinted at. The conjecture finds its roots in a report by the domestic finance platform, Moneycontrol.
Groundwork with HDFC Bank
The report elucidates on how the company’s CEO, Tim Cook, had a meeting with Sashidhar Jagdishan, CEO and MD of HDFC Bank, during his Indian visit in April. The purported agenda of this rendezvous was to explore the feasibility of introducing the Apple Card and Apple Pay in India.
Credit card services in India can solely be initiated by banking institutions. Consequently, Apple is allegedly contemplating the launch of Apple Card as a co-branded card in collaboration with HDFC Bank.
Dialogues with the Reserve Bank of India
Apple’s proactive move to engage in dialogue with India’s Central Bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), emphasizes its keen interest in the project. The Cupertino-based giant discussed the technicalities of launching the card, with RBI reportedly encouraging Apple to comply with standard procedures for co-branded credit cards without any exceptional privileges.
Since its U.S. debut in August 2019, the Apple Card has remained exclusively available in the states. The decision to consider the Indian market before expanding to Japan or European countries may be influenced by Apple’s inability to accept card payments in India due to specific regulations. Instead, App Store purchases are mostly powered by the national Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
A closer look at the Apple Card
In the U.S., Apple Card was launched in partnership with Goldman Sachs. The physical version of the card is a minimalist titanium piece, with the customer’s name etched on the front and the affiliations to Mastercard and Goldman Sachs on the back. The Indian regulations for co-branded cards, however, may not allow such liberties.
The talks are still in nascent stages, with no definitive decision made yet.
Apple’s growing footprint in India
Cook’s visit to India was also marked by the inauguration of the country’s first Apple retail stores. Even before having its own retail outlets, Apple’s sales in India reached an unprecedented high of nearly $6 billion in the year through March, marking a nearly 50% growth from the previous year’s $4.1 billion.
In addition to this, Apple has been building a manufacturing supply chain in India, the world’s second-largest smartphone market. The recent shift of iPhone 14 assembly from China to India testifies to the country’s strategic importance in Apple’s production network.
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