Apple Pay’s Hard Road To Toe In India

Apple, Inc. is eyeing the payments market in India, according to Eddy Cue, the company’s senior vice president for Internet Software and Services.

In an interview with The Economic Times, Cue said Apple wants to launch Apple Pay in India but lacks the payment mechanism.

“If you think about [it] in U.S. terms, we don’t care if it’s Mastercard, Visa or whatever or whatever bank you deal with. If you are in China, we don’t care if it’s [by] WeChat Pay or Alipay or credit card. It is great that all of these payment mechanisms [are] coming out in India because it empowers people to be able to pay,” said Eddy Cue when asked about the payments market in India. “What Apple Pay does is make that process easy, integrated and safe. We absolutely want to bring Apple Pay to India.”

The comments on the part of Cue come at a time when Apple has expanded the cities and countries in which Apple Pay is available, adding new features and functionality to its digital payment service.

Earlier in October, payment processing company Discover announced that its cardmembers can now redeem a Cashback Bonus for a statement credit through Apple Pay. This move makes Discover the first major credit card company to offer customers the ability to redeem rewards after a purchase via the Apple eWallet, according to a press release detailing the news. 

“Cashback Bonus redemption through Apple Pay can happen in just two touches for Discover cardmembers,” said Szabolcs Paldy, vice president of Digital Marketing for the company, in the press release. “We are committed to providing simple and valuable solutions to our customers wherever and whenever they need them. Customer experience hinges on embracing mobile-first technologies like Apple Pay, and this new ability will make Cashback Bonus redemption even easier and more convenient for our cardmembers.”