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Apple Stops Storing Card Information For Customers In India

Apple tells customers to change their payment methods, as the RBI card storage guidelines loom.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>(Photo: Zhiyue/Unsplash)</p></div>
(Photo: Zhiyue/Unsplash)

U.S.-based Apple Inc. has decided to stop storing customer card information for Indian customers making payments for its services and the app store. The decision was made in light of the Reserve Bank of India's new card storage guidelines which will be effective shortly.

"In light of upcoming Reserve Bank of India regulations, starting June 1, credit and debit cards can no longer be used for purchases or subscriptions on the App Store or other Apple services. Apple will no longer store card information on file," the email said.

Apple said that customers can link their unified payments interface information or net banking information for these payments to avoid interruptions. Customers may also load the Apple ID balance for these payments.

UPI and net banking both allow autopay services. However, it is not clear if such an autopay arrangement will be available for all merchants, including Apple.

In December 2021, the banking regulator had announced that merchants have time till June 30, 2022, to adhere to its new card storage guidelines. Under these guidelines merchants can no longer store card information of their customers. The regulator has previously suggested that merchants use alternative methods such as tokenisation of card information to allow uninterrupted payments.

The guidelines, first announced in March 2020, were to be implemented by June 30, 2021. However, following requests from the payments industry, the regulator extended the deadline to Dec. 31, 2021. The RBI provided another extension till June 30, 2022 later, as the industry was still not ready with solutions for these payments.