RBI Enhances Security of Card Transactions

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has enhanced the Security of Card Transactions. Over the years, the volume and value of transactions made through cards have increased manifold.

In a Communication issued by RBI said that, At the time of issue / re-issue, all cards (physical and virtual) shall be enabled for use only at contact-based points of usage [viz. ATMs and Point of Sale (PoS) devices] within India. Issuers shall provide cardholders a facility for enabling card, not present (domestic and international) transactions, card-present (international) transactions and contactless transactions, as per the process outlined in para 1 (c).

For existing cards, issuers may take a decision, based on their risk perception, whether to disable the card, not present (domestic and international) transactions, card-present (international) transactions and contactless transaction rights. Existing cards that have never been used for online (cards not present) / international/contactless transactions shall be mandatorily disabled for this purpose.

Additionally, the issuers shall provide to all cardholders:

1. facility to switch on / off and set/modify transaction limits (within the overall cards limit, if any, set by the issuer) for all types of transactions – domestic and international, at PoS / ATMs / online transactions / contactless transactions, etc.;
2. the above facility on a 24x7 basis through multiple channels - mobile application/internet banking / ATMs / Interactive Voice Response (IVR); this may also be offered at branches/offices;

• alerts / information / status, etc., through SMS / e-mail, as and when there is any change in status of the cards.