Indian debit card doesn't work on Apple search ad

Nobody here can assist with this. You’ll need to discuss it with Apple.

Apple has documented the Search Ads payment requirements here:

https://searchads.apple.com/help/get-started/0030-set-your-payment-method

Apple does not accept payments for search ads from payment cards issued from Indian banks:

If you cannot acquire a payment card from elsewhere, search ads are seemingly not an option.

I'm sure there are Indian credit cards that will work. Just find a bank that offers a credit card far too expensive for any local people to afford. Get that one. Apple will probably accept it. Other credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, any other payment systems that don't have a large, established presence in northern California will not work.

I just did a web search for the largest banks in India. They are:

#1 HDFC Bank

#2 ICICI Bank

#3 SBI

#4 Kotak Mahindra

#5 Axis Bank

#6 IndusInd Bank

#7 Bank of Baroda

#8 Punjab National Bank

#9 Union Bank of India

#10 IDBI Bank

Look at these and see which ones have branches in California. Those are the ones you want. I know I've seen ICICI branches here in Canada. That would be my recommendation.

shakkygoyal wrote:

I will give it a try

Don't bother. I was wrong. Your question was very similar to similar questions from people trying to setup Apple Developer accounts outside of the US. Apple is very strict about the credit card being used. Gift cards, even Apple ones, App Store credit, other systems, etc. - none of that works. Only major credit cards

However, this RBI issue is something else entirely. I recommend you contact Apple directly. You have to be careful here. Cards issues in other countries may not be accepted and could put your account under suspicion of fraud. You don't want that. But since your question isn't really about a developer issue, you might have more leeway about credit cards than strict developer account payments. All you can do is contact Apple directly for suggestions. Primarily you need to find out what alternative payment methods you can use that will not trigger any fraud alerts on your Apple account. You don't want to get banned. Otherwise, the RBI might change this policy one day and everything will be fixed, but not for you. You'll still be banned.

This is very frustrating. I don't know who's fault is this, RBI's or Apple's. But app developers like us are being punished for this. And both Apple and RBI are utterly indifferent to us. Meanwhile other companies like Google and Meta do accept Indian credit cards.

sivgom wrote:

This is very frustrating. I don't know who's fault is this, RBI's or Apple's.

This is RBI's rule, not Apple's.

Meanwhile other companies like Google and Meta do accept Indian credit cards.

But for Google and Meta, advertising revenue is 100% of their revenue stream. Apple makes most of its money from hardware sales. Only 6% of Apple's iPhone sales come from India. Apple's ad search revenue is much smaller than that, probably not enough to pay people to manage it under the new system.

While that may be the case, it is hard to imagine for a layman that Apple cannot financially afford to comply with RBI credit card compliance requirements, while countless tiny companies apparently can. It is really hurting the app developers as they cannot fairly compete with others in the App Store for visibility.

Apple makes sure you cannot use any payment method other than "Non-Indian" credit/debit cards. RBI makes sure that you cannot hold any "Non-Indian" credit/debit card if you are a resident of India. But the good news is that you can always update your Apple Search Ad account with your GST number.

@shakkygoyal @sivgom Did you find a solution? I am stuck with the same issue.

Unfortunately I did not find any solution. I just check the Search Ad payment options from time to time to see if things have changed. But so far nothing.