RBI Committee calls for national switch to EMV

The Reserve Bank of India has published a host of recommendations for improving bank customer services, including the establishment of a shared Know-Your Customer database, the introduction of multi-factor authentication for Internet transactions and a nationwide switch to Chip and PIN-based EMV cards.

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RBI Committee calls for national switch to EMV

Editorial

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community.

The recommendations come from an RBI-convened 'Committee on Customer Services in Banks', chaired by the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, Shri M. Damodaran.

On Internet banking, it suggests that banks implement multi-factor authentication and establish sophisticated pattern recognition systems to detect suspect transactions.

To clamp down on card fraud, it calls for a move to EMV-based chip cards and suggests the introduction of SMS fraud alerts to warn customers of unusual spending activity. It also says the onus on proving fraud in disputed ATM transactions should rest with the bank, and not the customer.

To ease account opening procedures, the Committee says the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) should consider setting up a trusted third party KYC data bank which can be shared and hosted under the UID number of the customer.

The RBI is calling for feedback on the report's recommendations by the end of the month.

Download the full report:

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Comments: (3)

Ketharaman Swaminathan

Ketharaman Swaminathan Founder and CEO at GTM360 Marketing Solutions

"To clamp down on card fraud, it ... suggests the introduction of SMS fraud alerts to warn customers of unusual spending activity."

Well, many banks in India started sending out realtime SMS alerts for every credit card transaction around 45 days ago. During this period, I've been able to spot one fraudulent transaction. Props to banks for introducing this valuable service. So far, it seems to be offered free-of-cost but I won't mind paying a nominal fee for it. 

A Finextra member 

Its a move in the right direction as most of these measures are hygiene factors in other countries. With the growing card/ ATM/online banking usage in the country, its a must. It will be interesting to see how they tackle Banks' data privacy issues around sharing of KYC data. Hopefully, these will not just be 'recommendations' but mandates!

Ketharaman Swaminathan

Ketharaman Swaminathan Founder and CEO at GTM360 Marketing Solutions

@Sachin S:

I never received SMS alerts on my UK credit or debit cards. I've read about Visa attempting a few pilots for realtime SMS alerts for credit cards in the USA and a resultant lawsuit claiming patent infringement. Since they weren't directly relevant under the context of the article or my previous comment, I hadn't brought up these points before. Now that you've made a mention, I'm keen on knowing about other countries where this feature is common / mandatory / hygeine factor. 

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