Banks are no longer permitted to issue contactless credit and debit cards to customers by default as per the Reserve Bank of India's latest directions that were issued on January 15.
The central bank said that cards being issued or re-issued by banks, "shall be enabled for use only at contact based points of usage within India." The same is applicable for domestic use at ATMs and Point of Sale devices, it added.
The latest directions from the RBI have come at a time when the volume and value of card-based monetary transactions have increased significantly. It is, therefore, a measure to safeguard cardholders against the rising number of frauds, by increasing the security of transactions made by customers using their credit and debit cards.
When a bank now issues a card, it will now have to provide its customers the option to avail these contactless facilities, which include international and contactless transactions. Facilities that are in-built features in cards issued by several banks.
Meanwhile, banks have been given the option to disable the said features for existing cardholders, based on their risk perception. But for those existing cards which have never been used for online, international, or contactless transactions, it is mandatory for these features to be disabled.
What is a contactless card?
If your card came with a WiFi symbol on it, you own a contactless card. You can make payments without having to physically swipe the card. All you need to do is tap the card at a PoS terminal that is equipped with the contactless payment technology. However, since a PIN or security code is not required in case of such payments, the transaction being made by this mode is usually limited.
Source: moneycontrol.com