According to reports, Apple is planning to launch its own credit card in India. During his recent trip to India, Apple CEO Tim Cook met with the CEO and Managing Director of HDFC Bank, Sashidhar Jagdishan.
The company is said to be in talks with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch ‘Apple Pay’ in the country, although it is unclear whether the credit card will be powered by the Rupay platform or the unified payments interface (UPI).
In India, only banks can launch credit cards, while UPI is for customers to make seamless and fast payments by scanning QR codes through mobile phones.
Apple has reportedly held talks with the Reserve Bank of India regarding the card's modalities and has been asked to follow the regular procedure for co-branded credit cards. The company is set to launch its co-branded credit card with HDFC Bank in India, although discussions are still in the early stages. Apple currently operates a premium credit card in the United States made of titanium and launched in partnership with Mastercard and Goldman Sachs.
Features of Apple Card
- Customers using the Apple Card for making regular purchases with the physical card can earn up to 1% of cashback, which increases to 2% if payment is made with Apple Pay.
- For those who are using the card for making payments at Apple stores and selected partners, the cashback percentage reaches 3%.
- There are no late fees charged by Apple to its Apple card holders. The company does not charge foreign transactions, returned payments, or annual credit card fees. However, users have to pay interest fees generated for carrying the balance.
- Savings: Apple card owners can open a 4.15% savings account (No minimum balance limit) to deposit their daily cash.
- Every customer will get a unique card number for each device. The number is stored in a secure element that is used by Apple Pay to handle transactions and on-device cryptographic functions.
