Reserve Bank Lifts Curbs On Mastercard, Allows Onboarding Of New Customers

Mastercard was the third firm to have been barred by the RBI from acquiring new customers after American Express Banking Corp and Diners Club International over data storage issue

Mastercard is a payment system operator authorised to operate a card network in the country under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act).

Source : Getty

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday announced that it has lifted restrictions on business on US-based Mastercard. The banking regulator imposed the curbs about two years earlier.

The RBI in its statement on Thursday said in view of the satisfactory compliance demonstrated by Mastercard Asia / Pacific Pte. with the RBI circular dated April 6, 2018, on Storage of Payment System Data, the restrictions imposed, vide order dated July 14, 2021, on on-boarding of new domestic customers have been lifted with immediate effect.

The central bank had by order dated July 14, 2021, imposed restrictions on Mastercard Asia / Pacific Pte from on-boarding new domestic customers (debit, credit or prepaid) onto its card network from July 22, 2021, for non-compliance with the RBI circular dated April 6, 2018, on Storage of Payment System Data.

Mastercard, a major card issuing entity in India, was the third firm to have been barred by the RBI from acquiring new customers after American Express Banking Corp and Diners Club International over data storage issue.

Mastercard is a payment system operator authorised to operate a card network in the country under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act).

Meanwhile, according to an RBI article on the state of the economy, India is better placed than many other countries to avoid the risks of a potential stagflation amid an increasingly hostile external environment.

The article, published in the RBI’s June bulletin, noted that global economic conditions continue to deteriorate as ratcheting up of commodity prices and financial market volatility have led to heightened uncertainty.

"In the midst of this increasingly hostile external environment, India is better placed than many other countries in terms of avoiding the risks of a potential stagflation," said the article authored by a team led by RBI's Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra.