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Apple has quietly brought back something Indian users have been waiting years for. The tech giant is once again allowing debit and credit card payments for App Store and iCloud purchases – a feature it pulled the plug on back in 2021.
Why Did Apple Stop Card Payments?
It all started five years ago when RBI introduced its card tokenization mandate. Merchants were no longer allowed to store customer card details directly, and businesses had to replace them with special tokens. Apple, which stores tokenized payment data on servers in the US, Denmark, and China, wasn’t ready to comply with the local data storage requirements at that time. So, it simply removed the card payment option for Indian users.
What’s Changed Now?
After half a decade, Apple has finally aligned with RBI’s framework. Under the new guidelines, only authorized card networks can store tokenized data – and it must be stored within India. This appears to have cleared the path for Apple to reintroduce the feature. The company is currently enabling it for a limited set of users, with a wider rollout expected soon.
What This Means for Users
For years, iPhone users in India had to rely on UPI, net banking, or prepaid Apple ID balance for buying apps, subscriptions, and iCloud storage. Now, the familiar debit and credit card option is making a comeback alongside these existing methods. Whether this paves the way for Apple Pay’s eventual launch in India remains to be seen – the company hasn’t shared any official word on that yet.
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