New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India has asked all banks and other card-issuing companies to disable online payment services of all debit and credit cards that have never been used for online or contactless transactions both in India and internationally.

With the rise in banking fraud cases, the Reserve Bank of India has issued new guidelines to secure debit and credit cards. These changes will be effective from 1st October 2020. RBI has issued new rules for debit and credit cards to improve the security and convenience of card transactions.

According to the new guidelines, card users will now be able to register preferences (opt-in or opt-out of services, spend limits, etc.) for international transactions, online transactions as well as contactless card transactions. Hence, debit and credit cards issued by banks will only be enabled for domestic transactions at ATMs and point of sale (PoS) terminals. Banks can deactivate current cards and reissue them based on risk perception. Note that, the RBI’s mandate does not include prepaid cards and gift cards.