RBI Lifts Ban On American Express As per the RBI norms, American Express have been required to store Indian payment data locally since October 2018
By Teena Jose
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The Reserve Bank of India, on Wednesday, lifted the restrictions on American Express Banking Corp, allowing it to restart onboarding of new domestic customers on its card network.
"In view of the satisfactory compliance demonstrated by American Express Banking Corp the restrictions imposed, vide order dated April 23, 2021, on onboarding of new domestic customers have been lifted with immediate effect," the Central Bank said in a notification.
It also added that, "American Express Banking Corp and Diners Club International are Payment System Operators authorized to operate Card Networks in the country under the payment and settlement systems act, 2007."
As per RBI report dated on 23rd April 2021, it had imposed restrictions on American Express Banking Corp from onboarding new domestic customers onto its card network from May 1 2021, for non-compliance with the RBI circular o storage of payment system data. RBI had lifted similar restrictions on Matercard after 11 months.
Sanjay Khanna, Interim CEO and COO, American Express Banking Corp, India, in a news report was quoted as saying, "We welcome today's decision by the Reserve Bank of India, which enables American Express Network to onboard new customers effective immediately. India is a key strategic market for America Express, and today's decision is the result of our significant local investments in technology, infrastructure and resources."
As per the RBI norms, financial services companies like Mastercard, American Express and Diners Club have been required to store Indian payment data locally since October 2018.
