Overview
- RBI issued seven master directions on digital banking channel authorisation for commercial, small finance, payments, local area, regional rural, urban co‑operative and rural co‑operative banks, applicable from January 1, 2026.
- Banks must obtain explicit, documented consent before provisioning digital services, and customers cannot be compelled to use digital channels.
- Prior RBI approval to introduce additional digital channels has been removed, with reliance on banks’ existing cyber‑risk frameworks.
- Post‑login screens may display only products banks are permitted to deal in, including branch‑available offerings, flagship government schemes and approved third‑party financial products.
- Eligibility to offer transactional digital channels requires meeting capital adequacy norms and at least Rs 50 crore net worth, alongside comprehensive policies for operational and liquidity risk; the draft outlier‑transaction confirmation clause was dropped in favor of fraud‑risk rules.