The Reserve Bank of India has today placed on its website the draft circular on Arrangements with Card Networks for issue of Debit, Credit and Prepaid Cards for feedback from stakeholders. Comments / Feedback, if any, may be sent by email, or by post to the Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of Payment and Settlement Systems, Central Office, Reserve Bank of India, 14th Floor, Central Office Building, Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, Mumbai - 400 001, on or before August 4, 2023.

2. The draft circular mandates card issuers (banks / non-banks) to issue cards on more than one card-network along with providing customers the facility to choose any one among the multiple card networks. It also restrains card issuers from entering into agreements that limit their ability to tie-up with other card-networks.

(Yogesh Dayal)     
Chief General Manager

Card network neutrality: issuers must offer multi-network cards and permit customer selection under draft regulatory circular. The draft RBI circular mandates that card issuers (banks and non-banks) issue debit, credit and prepaid cards on more than one card network and provide customers the facility to choose among those networks. It forbids contractual arrangements that limit issuers' ability to tie up with other card networks, aiming to prevent exclusivity or tying clauses and to promote customer choice and interoperability. The draft is open for stakeholder comments before finalisation.