6 ms·

In India, Apple continues to screw itself with its short sightedness by insisting on credit / debit cards for all Apple Payments and refusing to integrate itsel

In India, Apple continues to screw itself with its short sightedness by insisting on credit / debit cards for all Apple Payments and refusing to integrate itself with India's many innovative digital payment systems. Even though I have wanted to pay for a few games and 1 or 2 really good apps, I can't because Apple doesn't accept my indian cards nor other alternative indian payment systems. Nor can we buy iTunes / App store credit online. Nor are we permitted to use iTunes / App Store gift certificates from US or elsewhere. Personally, I wonder if this is because: 1. The central bank's (RBI) rule that financial data of indians should be stored in india. 2. Indian payment systems make it difficult to bill someone automatically (without the involvement of the payee). 3. Indian payment systems prevent "leakage" of your "credit worthiness" / credit rating, unlike credit cards.

SllX 8y ago
Last I checked, nothing the old iTunes Store infrastructure touches including the App Store takes Apple Pay either. For that matter, neither does the Online Apple Store app, at least as of May last year when I last tried it. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for Apple to stop repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to anything at all to do with their e-commerce platform.
avip 8y ago
According to media coverage, Apple put the UPI integration on hold due to "regulatory issues". That's mainly RBI data localization requirements ([1] on your list).
mscasts 8y ago
So there is no way for you to buy anything of the appstore?
- genghizkhan 8y ago
  You can. You just need a credit or a debit card. Personally I’m fine with it. I don’t know if Apple has integrated with any payment processors apart from credit card companies anywhere else in the world anyway; expecting them to do it in India would be a bit strange.
  - vinay427 8y ago
    This doesn't sound like they're expecting anything: > In India, Apple continues to screw itself with its short sightedness by insisting on credit / debit cards for all Apple Payments and refusing to integrate itself with India's many innovative digital payment systems. It just sounds like they see it as a shortcoming of Apple's payment platform which affects the adoption of paid items in India, which seems like a fair evaluation.
  - webmobdev 8y ago
    > expecting them to do it in India would be a bit strange. Why - one of their strong brand values is that their products are "user-friendly" because they listen to customers. So I don't see anything strange in making it easy for their customers to spend money on their platform, as it would only earn them more goodwill, not to mention increase their profits.
- webmobdev 8y ago
  Only certain international debit cards and credit cads are accepted.
masonic 8y ago
You can't buy iTunes gift cards with any of those payment systems?
- tapland 8y ago
  Not online. It requires you to go buy a card with a value of <not the cost of the app>. I bet people who really need it top their accounts up (can you do this in the Apple store, or is it left on the card?) but you can imagine how much of sales are impulse purchases.
- webmobdev 8y ago
  No, not in India. => https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8487762 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8487762
noneeeed 8y ago
Wish I could find it, but I read an article recently about all the work Amazon is putting into India, working with small traders to handle ordering, payment and delivery in person etc when you can't rely on things like the postal service or easy access to online payment. It makes for an interesting contrast to what you describe as Apple's lack of local awareness.
- webmobdev 8y ago
  > when you can't rely on things like the postal service FYI, While Amazon is really serious about India and is doing some good work there, the Indian Postal Service is really good and reliable. In fact, even Amazon uses the indian post to deliver to remote areas where they don't have have amazon delivery offices.
  - noneeeed 8y ago
    That's good to know. Something I found interesting was the problem of many rural people not really having a formal address. It's so easy to take for granted that everyone has a house number and street with some kind of postal code, in in-fact that they even have a name with a given and family part. You can't always rely on these sorts of things because the world is big and wonderful and full of variety.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
zaarn 8y ago
It's not just Apple and India. As an European it is incredibly annoying to spend money at US "startups" (loosely using this terms, this included businesses that had been in operation for 10+ years); I cannot use Giropay, Sofort or SEPA Debit, I have to use a Credit Card. And I can't even use a safe prepaid credit card, I have to use a "real" credit card or else my account gets banned (mailgun did that to me, there was no warning prior and I had to go through support to find out and get unbanned). It really makes one notice how many startups never ever spend a singular thought on overseas markets, or if they did, only about the scary regulations, not the payment systems.
- kmlx 8y ago
  Honestly, as a fellow European I never heard of those. Not even in passing. But I did try to pay with a card in the Netherlands at the biggest local supermarket: - Visa not accepted - Mastercard not accepted - Amex not accepted They only accepted payment using a local card that I've never heard of. Obviously had no problems with those cards anywhere else in the developed world. Except for Europe. So yeah, Europe needs to get their shit together and start accepting and issuing the same card as the ROW. And then all problems go away.
  - zaarn 8y ago
    In Germany there is also the Girocard (formerly EC Card), which largely uses SEPA Debit. Almost all European Countries use some form of SEPA Debit to power their card systems. I don't think Europe needs to get their shit together, I'd rather if POS terminals would accept more payment systems. Credit Cards are not the world currency.
    - kmlx 8y ago
      When you put it in context, there's a handful of people using all kinds of local systems. Then there's hundreds of millions if not billions that use the other well-established systems. Regarding credit cards, very few Visa and Mastercard are credit, especially in Europe.
ramshanker 8y ago
Uber integrated with local payment processor Paytm and they are doing excellent. Apple may be "in their own world" to accept paytm terms, feels more of arrogance issues to me.
- webmobdev 8y ago
  They don't need to use PayTm - they just need to integrate Apple Pay with India's payment infrastructure. They just don't want to do that as they may come under RBI's regulation and other indian laws.
YetAnotherNick 8y ago
> I can't because Apple doesn't accept my indian cards nor other alternative indian payment systems. Read this: https://www.isaumya.com/paypal-google-wallet-indian-debit-card-support/ https://www.isaumya.com/paypal-google-wallet-indian-debit-ca... I use my SBI international debit card for apple music, and used HDFC international card before. Domestic card doesn't work and you need special activation. It wasn't possible to use SBI card two year before. Also, almost all credit cards are supported.
- webmobdev 8y ago
  The link is quite useful - thanks. My issue is that I prefer to pay online using net banking. And I have opted for a RuPay debit card (not Visa or Mastercard). I don't see why I should get a specific card from a specific bank to do transactions with Apple - it's just plain ridiculous!

SllX 8y ago

Last I checked, nothing the old iTunes Store infrastructure touches including the App Store takes Apple Pay either. For that matter, neither does the Online Apple Store app, at least as of May last year when I last tried it. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for Apple to stop repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to anything at all to do with their e-commerce platform.

avip 8y ago

According to media coverage, Apple put the UPI integration on hold due to "regulatory issues". That's mainly RBI data localization requirements ([1] on your list).

mscasts 8y ago

So there is no way for you to buy anything of the appstore?

genghizkhan 8y ago
You can. You just need a credit or a debit card. Personally I’m fine with it. I don’t know if Apple has integrated with any payment processors apart from credit card companies anywhere else in the world anyway; expecting them to do it in India would be a bit strange.
- vinay427 8y ago
  This doesn't sound like they're expecting anything: > In India, Apple continues to screw itself with its short sightedness by insisting on credit / debit cards for all Apple Payments and refusing to integrate itself with India's many innovative digital payment systems. It just sounds like they see it as a shortcoming of Apple's payment platform which affects the adoption of paid items in India, which seems like a fair evaluation.
- webmobdev 8y ago
  > expecting them to do it in India would be a bit strange. Why - one of their strong brand values is that their products are "user-friendly" because they listen to customers. So I don't see anything strange in making it easy for their customers to spend money on their platform, as it would only earn them more goodwill, not to mention increase their profits.
webmobdev 8y ago
Only certain international debit cards and credit cads are accepted.

masonic 8y ago

You can't buy iTunes gift cards with any of those payment systems?

tapland 8y ago
Not online. It requires you to go buy a card with a value of <not the cost of the app>. I bet people who really need it top their accounts up (can you do this in the Apple store, or is it left on the card?) but you can imagine how much of sales are impulse purchases.
webmobdev 8y ago
No, not in India. => https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8487762 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8487762

noneeeed 8y ago

Wish I could find it, but I read an article recently about all the work Amazon is putting into India, working with small traders to handle ordering, payment and delivery in person etc when you can't rely on things like the postal service or easy access to online payment. It makes for an interesting contrast to what you describe as Apple's lack of local awareness.

webmobdev 8y ago
> when you can't rely on things like the postal service FYI, While Amazon is really serious about India and is doing some good work there, the Indian Postal Service is really good and reliable. In fact, even Amazon uses the indian post to deliver to remote areas where they don't have have amazon delivery offices.
- noneeeed 8y ago
  That's good to know. Something I found interesting was the problem of many rural people not really having a formal address. It's so easy to take for granted that everyone has a house number and street with some kind of postal code, in in-fact that they even have a name with a given and family part. You can't always rely on these sorts of things because the world is big and wonderful and full of variety.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

zaarn 8y ago

It's not just Apple and India. As an European it is incredibly annoying to spend money at US "startups" (loosely using this terms, this included businesses that had been in operation for 10+ years); I cannot use Giropay, Sofort or SEPA Debit, I have to use a Credit Card. And I can't even use a safe prepaid credit card, I have to use a "real" credit card or else my account gets banned (mailgun did that to me, there was no warning prior and I had to go through support to find out and get unbanned). It really makes one notice how many startups never ever spend a singular thought on overseas markets, or if they did, only about the scary regulations, not the payment systems.

kmlx 8y ago
Honestly, as a fellow European I never heard of those. Not even in passing. But I did try to pay with a card in the Netherlands at the biggest local supermarket: - Visa not accepted - Mastercard not accepted - Amex not accepted They only accepted payment using a local card that I've never heard of. Obviously had no problems with those cards anywhere else in the developed world. Except for Europe. So yeah, Europe needs to get their shit together and start accepting and issuing the same card as the ROW. And then all problems go away.
- zaarn 8y ago
  In Germany there is also the Girocard (formerly EC Card), which largely uses SEPA Debit. Almost all European Countries use some form of SEPA Debit to power their card systems. I don't think Europe needs to get their shit together, I'd rather if POS terminals would accept more payment systems. Credit Cards are not the world currency.
  - kmlx 8y ago
    When you put it in context, there's a handful of people using all kinds of local systems. Then there's hundreds of millions if not billions that use the other well-established systems. Regarding credit cards, very few Visa and Mastercard are credit, especially in Europe.

ramshanker 8y ago

Uber integrated with local payment processor Paytm and they are doing excellent. Apple may be "in their own world" to accept paytm terms, feels more of arrogance issues to me.

webmobdev 8y ago
They don't need to use PayTm - they just need to integrate Apple Pay with India's payment infrastructure. They just don't want to do that as they may come under RBI's regulation and other indian laws.

YetAnotherNick 8y ago

> I can't because Apple doesn't accept my indian cards nor other alternative indian payment systems. Read this: https://www.isaumya.com/paypal-google-wallet-indian-debit-card-support/ https://www.isaumya.com/paypal-google-wallet-indian-debit-ca... I use my SBI international debit card for apple music, and used HDFC international card before. Domestic card doesn't work and you need special activation. It wasn't possible to use SBI card two year before. Also, almost all credit cards are supported.

webmobdev 8y ago
The link is quite useful - thanks. My issue is that I prefer to pay online using net banking. And I have opted for a RuPay debit card (not Visa or Mastercard). I don't see why I should get a specific card from a specific bank to do transactions with Apple - it's just plain ridiculous!