Hyderabad, Aug. 11 -- Apple is preparing to launch its digital payments service, Apple Pay, in India by October, but the platform is unlikely to support Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions at launch.

The service will begin by supporting credit cards issued on global networks such as Visa and Mastercard, using the same framework Apple runs in other markets, Business Standard (BS) reported, citing three people aware of the development. Users will be able to add eligible cards to the Apple Wallet app and make contactless payments by tapping their device at point-of-sale terminals using near field communication (NFC).

Apple has been readying the launch for the end of September or October, the BS quoted a source as saying.

No UPI ...