RBI asks banks to move towards real time fraud monitoring system

Also asks banks for easier methods (like SMS) for customer to block his card, get confirmation to that effect

As cyber-attacks are becoming more and more unpredictable and electronic payment systems are becoming vulnerable to new types of misuse, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks to move towards real time fraud monitoring system at the earliest, said a press release issued by RBI on Thursday.

The RBI also asked banks to provide easier methods (like SMS) for the customer to block his card and get a confirmation to that effect after blocking the card.

For secure card payment transactions RBI also said that banks should move towards a system that facilitates implementation of additional factor of authentication for cards issued in India and used internationally (transactions acquired by banks located abroad).

Besides that bank should frame rules based on the transaction pattern of the usage of cards by the customers in coordination with the authorised card payment networks for arresting fraud. This would act as a fraud prevention measure, said RBI.

RBI also asked banks  to ensure that the terminals installed at the merchants for capturing card payments (including the double swipe terminals used) should be certified for PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry- Data Security Standards) and PA-DSS (Payment Applications -Data Security Standards).

According to RBI all new debit and credit cards to be issued only for domestic usage unless international use is specifically sought by the customer. “All the active magstripe international cards issued by banks should have threshold limit for international usage,” RBI said.

All these measures are to be put in place by June 30.

RBI also asked banks to introduce certain measures for securing electronic payment transactions. These include considering capturing of Internet Protocol (IP) address as an additional validation check.

“Banks may explore the feasibility of implementing new technologies like adaptive authentication, etc. for fraud detection,” said RBI.

Banks may even consider implementation of digital signature for large value payments for all customer