On Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) eased limitations put on Mastercard last year, allowing the global payment processor to onboard new clients for debit, credit, or prepaid cards in India after satisfactory compliance with data storage norms.
The RBI placed limitations on Mastercard Asia /Pacific Pte. Ltd. on July 14, 2021, prohibiting it from onboarding new domestic users (debit, credit, or prepaid) to its card network until July 22, 2021. In addition, the Reserve Bank of India has slammed Mastercard Asia with a fine for failing to comply with the RBI circular on Payment System Data Storage dated April 6, 2018.
After the RBI notified American Express and Diners Club International not to take on new domestic clients in April, Mastercard became the third company to be blocked on similar grounds.
We appreciate the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision today, which allows us to continue onboarding new domestic clients (debit, credit, and prepaid) onto our card network in India immediately. Furthermore, we underline our commitment to serving the digital requirements of India, its people, and its businesses, as we have in our interaction with the RBI,” Mastercard said in response to the RBI’s latest order, quoted to the news agency PTI.
Despite the progression of time and many possibilities, the entity (Mastercard) was deemed non-compliant with the directions on the storage of payment system data, according to the central bank’s earlier statement.