RBI Lifts Restrictions on Mastercard

Reserve Bank of India lifted the ban on MasterCard on Thursday that it had imposed last year for failing to comply with local data storage norms. The central bank had barred US-based payment gateway MasterCard from adding new customers unless it complies with payment system data storage norms. 

RBI has said in a statement, “In view of the satisfactory compliance of the payment system data storage by MasterCard Asia/Pacific Pte Ltd has been imposed on-boarding of new domestic customers. The restrictions imposed have been lifted with immediate effect. 

RBI had barred MasterCard Asia/Pacific Pte from onboarding new domestic customers (debit, credit, or prepaid) on its card network with effect from July 22, 2021. In the meantime, RBI has restricted the use of cards through electronic means, prepaid and in-person through UPI. 

The additional mechanism of verification for automatic payments for various services at regular intervals has been increased from Rs.5,000 to Rs.15,000 on the approval. This means additional verification for payment of every Rs.15,000 transaction will not be required.