India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI ), said it’s introducing an exclusive “bank. in” the national internet domain for banks to fight online financial fraud.
The RBI stated in a speech released today that” this effort aims to reduce cyber security threats and nefarious activities like spoofing, and optimize secure financial services, thus enhancing trust in online banking and payment services.”
The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology ( IDRBT ) will serve as the exclusive registrar in this regard. Beginning in April 2025, registration for the realms is anticipated to begin.
Additionally, the RBI announced plans to launch a individual, special domain named “fin. in” for various non-bank institutions in the financial industry.
As part of broader efforts to enhance trust in online payments, the RBI said it’s also debuting what’s called Additional Factor of Authentication ( ) for cross-border card-not-present ( ) online transactions.
AFA, also called multi-factor authentication ( MFA ), refers to the process of using more than one factor to authenticate users, and, in this case, complete digital transactions undertaken via cards, prepaid instruments and mobile banking channels.
In situations where an international vendor is permitted for AFA,” This will provide an additional layer of security,” the RBI stated.
But, it’s worth noting that the RBI has never mandated a distinct element for AFA. SMS-based one-time passwords ( OTPs ) were largely accepted as AFA in the Indian digital payments ecosystem.