Apple is allegedly in discussions with banks in India over the possibility of expanding Apple Card, the iPhone maker’s digital credit card, to customers in the country, marking the first international expansion to the service following its launch in the US in 2019.
According to a report by local finance website Moneycontrol, Apple CEO Tim Cook met with Indian HDFC Bank CEO and MD Sashidhar Jagdishan during his trip to India in April, with the group discussing the possibility of bringing the credit card to the country alongside Apple Pay.
The report claims that the discussions are in the early stages, and in addition to talks with HDFC, the Cupertino company had also held discussions with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the modalities of the card.
“Apple was looking at significant deviations from the standard co-branded credit card model in India,” one of the sources cited by the report claims. “It is not clear whether the company is willing to make those compromises in order to launch the card in India.”
Apple Card is only available in the US. Users can make purchases using their Apple Card with Apple Pay on their iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac, or with the optional titanium Apple Card bank card, which features no printed card number or security code, making it the world’s most secure credit card.
