Apple In Talks With HDFC Bank To Offer Credit Cards In India

SUMMARY

Apple CEO Tim Cook met HDFC Bank CEO and MD Sashidhar Jagdishan during his trip to India in April

Apple also held discussions with the Reserve Bank of India, which asked it to follow the standard procedure for launching a co-branded credit card

The company is also in talks with the National Payments Corporation of India to launch Apple Pay in the country

iPhone maker Apple is reportedly looking to launch its credit card, Apple Card, in India and is currently in talks with banks and regulators in the country for the same.

Apple CEO Tim Cook met HDFC Bank CEO and MD Sashidhar Jagdishan during his trip to India in April for this, Moneycontrol reported.

Apple also held discussions with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the modalities of the card. The central bank asked the tech giant to follow the regular procedure for co-branded credit cards, without offering any special consideration for the company.

Hence, the tech giant is looking to launch Apple Card as a co-branded credit card in collaboration with HDFC Bank. The talks are in early stages and no decision has been taken yet.

However, the report said that Apple was not looking for the standard co-branded credit card model in India and wanted some changes. Since the RBI refused to provide any such concessions, it is not clear if the company would be willing to go ahead with the co-branded credit card model.

“Apple works only with the biggest and the best and hence the discussions with HDFC Bank. While a lot goes into building partnerships, banks and other brands would be willing to sweeten the deal terms to get Apple on board,” a person aware of the development was quoted as saying in the report.

Besides, the company is also holding discussions with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch Apple Pay in the country. However, it is not clear if the discussions are regarding its credit card being powered by NPCI’s Rupay platform or for the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

Last year, Apple App Store stopped accepting credit and debit cards as a mode of payment in India for buying apps and for subscription services after the Reserve Bank of India’s new guidelines on recurring payments.

Earlier this year, Apple introduced UPI Autopay as a new payment option for subscription-based purchases on its App Store in India, nearly a year after Apple added UPI and net banking as payment options for Indian users on its App Store.