India cenbank lifts curbs on AmEx after compliance on data storage rules
2022.08.24 17:50
FILE PHOTO: A labourer adjusts his cap as he walks past the American Express branch in Gurugram on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, September 8, 2017. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo
BENGALURU (Reuters) – The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday lifted curbs imposed on American Express (NYSE:AXP) last year that had prevented it from taking on new customers in India, saying the U.S. credit card giant had shown “satisfactory compliance” on data storage rules.
“In view of the satisfactory compliance demonstrated by American Express Banking Corp with the Reserve Bank of India circular on Storage of Payment System Data, the restrictions imposed on onboarding of new domestic customers have been lifted with immediate effect,” the RBI said in a statement.
The RBI imposed the curbs on AmEx in April 2021 saying the company had not met data storage rules requiring foreign card networks to store domestic payments data only in India so the regulator can have “unfettered supervisory access”.
The move comes months after the RBI lifted restrictions on Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) over issuing debit and credit cards to new domestic customers due to similar compliance issues on data storage.
