Credit, debit cards’ online use facility to be disabled: For international transactions, online transactions and contactless transactions, customers who get new cards from 16 March will have to separately set up services on their card. Those with old cards can decide whether to disable any of these features.
If you have not used your debit, credit card for online purpose till now, they will be deactivated come 16 March as a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rule will kick in, which will automatically disable any credit or debit card that has never been used for an online transaction. In its January 15 notification, RBI announced a slew of measures to improve the convenience and security of the credit and debit cards. These new rules will into effect from March 16. Those with old cards can decide whether to disable any of these features.
Which cards’ online use will be disabled?
As per the notification, online transactions and contactless payment services will be disabled of all those credit and debit cards that have never been used for an online or contactless transaction. Cardholders have time till March 16 to use such cards for online, contactless transactions to stop them being disabled for these transactions.
What is a contactless transaction?
Note that a contactless transaction occurs when one buys products or services via debit or credit card using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology-enabled on the cards.
New credit, debit card rules:
- The central bank asked banks to allow only domestic card transactions at ATMs and PoS terminals in India at the time of issuance/re-issuance of the card.
- For international transactions, online transactions, card-not-present transactions and contactless transactions, customers will have to separately set up services on their card.
- Those with old cards can decide whether to disable any of these features.
- For existing cards, issuers may take a decision, based on their risk perception, whether to disable the card not present (domestic and international) transactions, international transactions and contactless transaction rights. Existing cards that have never been used for online/international/contactless transactions shall be mandatorily disabled for this purpose.
- Users will have 24×7 access to switch ON/OFF or change all transaction limits via all available channels — mobile application/internet banking/ATMs/Interactive Voice Response (IVR).
As per the notification, card issuers shall provide to all cardholders the facility to switch on/off and set/modify transaction limits (within the overall card limit, if any, set by the issuer) for all types of transactions – domestic and international, at PoS/ATMs/online transactions/contactless transactions, etc. The provisions are not mandatory for prepaid gift cards and those used at mass transit systems.
