In May 2016, when Apple CEO Tim Cook visited India, he made a big ticket announcement that got the country’s fintech community buzzing. Cook said that Apple wanted to bring its mobile payments and digital wallet service—Apple Pay—to India. The announcement came following his meeting with ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar in Mumbai, where Cook in his own words “tried to understand how their view of mobile payments would play out.”
Since Cook’s visit, the company has made progress in following up on the CEO’s announcements, specifically, Apple Pay. There is an emerging view within the government that Apple Pay should be allowed to enter the market, especially since digital transactions are on the rise.