Indians can once again make Apple App Store purchases using credit and debit cards

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 9, 2026 11:23 AM IST

Eligible Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards can once again be added to Apple Accounts for App Store and iCloud payments in India.(Image: Express Image)

Apple has restored bank card payments for App Store and iCloud purchases in India after a four-year hiatus. While the change is being rolled out in phases, some users can now add eligible Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards to their Apple Account to pay for subscriptions such as iCloud+ and Apple Music, as well as App Store purchases (see screenshot attached).

Apple stopped accepting card payments in India in May 2022 due to changes in the country’s recurring payments rules. Since then, users have used UPI, net banking, and Apple Account balance for subscriptions and other digital purchases for Apple services.

Countries around the world have introduced different regulations for digital payments, requiring Apple to adapt how it operates the App Store to comply with local rules. Under increasing regulatory pressure, Apple has made several changes to its App Store policies in Europe. In Japan, the company has also introduced changes to iOS that affect payment options, alternative app marketplaces, and users’ choice of default web browsers.

Apple stopped accepting card payments in India in 2022 following changes to the country’s recurring payments regulations. (Image: Express Image)

In India, however, the Reserve Bank of India’s recurring payments framework required stronger customer authentication and card tokenization while prohibiting merchants from storing customers’ card details, disrupting subscription payments until companies updated their systems.

Apple’s decision to restore card payments in India could hint at the company’s plans to introduce Apple Pay in the country.

Apple Pay is a digital payments service that allows users to make payments using their iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch by adding their preferred payment method, including credit and debit cards. Once set up, users can simply hold their iPhone, for example, near any contactless payment terminal to pay in stores or select Apple Pay as the payment method when shopping online.

Apple has yet to announce when it plans to roll out Apple Pay in India.

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India has become a key strategic market for Apple as the company continues to shift parts of its supply chain away from China, while its smartphone business continues to grow in the country of more than 1.4 billion people.