'Bank.in, fin.in': RBI announces new domains to curb cyber fraud

The RBI Governor, while unveiling the last bi-monthly monetary policy of this fiscal year, said registrations for 'bank.in' will commence from April 2025

The Reserve Bank of India announced on Friday that Indian banks will soon have an exclusive internet domain named ‘bank.in’. The apex bank added that non-bank financial entities will have the domain named ‘fin.in’. The decision has been taken to curb financial fraud and make online financial security more robust.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seal on a gate outside the RBI headquarters in Mumbai.(Reuters)

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, while unveiling the last bi-monthly monetary policy of this fiscal year, said registrations for 'bank.in' will commence from April 2025, and going forward 'fin.in' will be introduced.

He added that the decision is aimed at enhancing trust in the financial sector. He also raised concerns over instances of fraud in digital payments.

"To combat the same, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is introducing the 'bank.in' exclusive Internet Domain for Indian banks," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

The initiative will likely reduce cyber security threats and malicious activities like phishing and streamline secure financial services.

The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) will act as the exclusive registrar for the domains.

The RBI has also decided to introduce an additional layer of security by enabling an Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) in foreign 'Card Not Present' transactions.

Follow live updates on RBI monetary policy announcement

"To provide a similar level of safety for online international transactions using cards issued in India, it is proposed to enable AFA for international card not present (online) transactions as well," the RBI said.

RBI cuts rate, projects 6.7 percent growth

The Reserve Bank today predicted that the Indian economy will grow 6.7 per cent in the upcoming financial year, up from 6.4 per cent estimated for the current fiscal.

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said household consumption is expected to remain robust aided by the tax relief in the Union Budget 2025-26.

He also announced the RBI monetary committee's decision to cut interest rates for the first time in almost five years.

The Reserve Bank's six-member monetary policy committee, chaired by Malhotra, voted unanimously to lower the benchmark repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%, the first cut since May 2020.