Apple Pay is now rolling out in India, nearly twelve years after its initial announcement. The feature launched with Axis Bank as its first banking partner, with Apple confirming the expansion earlier today. According to an Apple support article, Apple Pay is now available in 101 countries and regions, including India.

India has become a strategically important market for Apple, both for manufacturing and consumer growth. The company has been shifting iPhone production to India as part of a broader effort to diversify manufacturing beyond China. Apple is also currently fighting an antitrust case brought by the Competition Commission of India over its App Store practices.

The launch of Apple Pay signals another step in Apple's broader expansion in the country. During the last fiscal quarter, Apple saw its first sequential drop in Services revenue since fiscal Q4 2022. While India alone is unlikely to significantly impact that metric, Apple Pay gives the company another way to build on momentum from record iPhone sales in the country.