Image Source : PIXABAY The decision is aimed at enhancing trust in the financial sector.
Amid the continuous rise in digital fraud, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said that it warrants actions by all stakeholders. While emphasising that the Central bank is taking various measures to enhance digital security in banking and payment systems, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said that Indian banks will soon have exclusive internet domain name ‘bank.in’ and non-bank financial entities ‘fin.in’.
Malhotra said registrations for ‘bank.in’ will commence from April 2025, and going forward ‘fin.in’ will be introduced.
The decision is aimed at enhancing trust in the financial sector, he said adding the increased instances of fraud in digital payments are a significant concern.
The initiative aims to reduce cyber security threats and malicious activities like phishing and streamline secure financial services, thereby enhancing trust in digital banking and payment services.
The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) will act as the exclusive registrar.
The RBI also decided to introduce an additional layer of security by enabling an Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) in cross-border ‘Card Not Present’ transactions.
The central bank said that the introduction of AFA for digital payments has enhanced the safety of transactions which, in turn, provided confidence to customers to adopt digital payments.
This requirement, however, is mandatory for domestic transactions only.
“In order to provide a similar level of safety for online international transactions using cards issued in India, it is proposed to enable AFA for international card not present (online) transactions as well,” the RBI said.
This will provide an additional layer of security in cases where the overseas merchant is enabled for AFA. Draft circular will be issued shortly for feedback from stakeholders.
Meanwhile, the Monetary Policy Committee, headed by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, slashed the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 per cent. This was the first reduction since May 2020 and the first revision after two-and-a-half years.
