RBI asks banks to complete migration to bank.in domain by October 31, 2025

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday, in its circular, asked banks to start the migration of their existing domains to the ‘bank.in’ domain and complete the process before October 31, 2025.

 

The central bank, in its circular, said that it has decided to operationalise the ‘bank.in’ domain for banks through the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), which has been authorised by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), under the guidance of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), to serve as the exclusive registrar for this domain.

 

Banks may contact IDRBT at sahyog@idrbt.ac.in to initiate the registration process. IDRBT shall guide the banks on various aspects related to the application process and migration to the new domain.

 

The RBI had introduced the exclusive internet domain for Indian banks as rising instances of fraud in digital payments emerged as a serious concern. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra introduced it during his Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) speech on February 7, 2025, to strengthen the cybersecurity framework.

 

“This initiative aims to reduce cybersecurity threats and malicious activities like phishing, and streamline secure financial services, thereby enhancing trust in digital banking and payment services. The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) will act as the exclusive registrar,” the RBI’s statement said.

 

The actual registration process was expected to commence from April, with detailed guidelines to be issued later. It has also been planned to have an exclusive domain viz. ‘fin.in’ for other non-bank entities in the financial sector.