RBI’s new guidelines for Debit and Credit Cards, effective today

•  International Transactions to be Optional-

According to this users can now either opt in Or opt out for International Transactions. The bank can disable old cards for international payments or issue new cards for the customers choosing to indulge in international exchange. 

Gaurav Chopra, CEO, IndiaLends says, “For new cards being issued, the users will only be able to use these services after registering for them. The main reason for this is to prevent card fraud and misuse and give the consumer better power to manage his or her finances. With spend and withdrawal caps, even if an individual becomes a victim of cyber or ATM fraud, the damage will be limited.” 

• Disable cards that have never been used for online payment- 

RBI has directed banks to disable the online payment service for all those debit and credit cards that have never been used for online money exchange. This does not include gift cards or prepaid cards.

Rajesh Mirjankar, MD and CEO, InfrasoftTech, says, “RBI has mandated banks to incorporate risk-mitigation features in customers’ debit cards and credit cards from 1st October. With this new feature, consumers can set up a limit on their credit cards and debit cards. Cardholders will have the option to switch on and off their debit and credit cards for any facility – ATM, NFC, POS, or eCommerce (card-not-present) transaction.” 

• NFC (Near Field Communication) Or Contactless payment will also be optional- 

Users will now be able to switch on and off their NFC payment whenever they want. Suppose on a trip to Korea they switched on NFC, they can opt out of it on returning to India. Cardholders can also set a limit to NFC payment, earlier it was Rs.2000 per day now they can increase or decrease as per to their preference.

 Mirjankar, of InfrasoftTech, says “The apps that banks have already rolled out with these features allow customers to set separate limits for each channel such as ATM, PoS, card-not-present, and NFC, in addition, to be able to revise downward their overall card limit.”