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The Reserve Bank of India has lifted a ban on Mastercard onboarding new card customers in the country.

Last July, the RBI told Mastercard to stop onboarding all new credit, debit and prepaid card customers, accusing the firm of violating data storage rules.

Under data storage rules from 2018, all payment system providers were given six months to ensure that full end-to-end transaction details were stored in systems only in India. The rule change was designed to “ensure better monitoring” of data.

Mastercard – along with Visa, American Express, PayPal, Amazon and the US government – lobbied against the rule when it was first introduced.

However, the RBI now says it has removed the restrictions, saying the card firm has shown “satisfactory compliance” with the rules.

In a statement, Mastercard says: “As we have in our engagement with the RBI, we reaffirm our commitment to support the digital needs of India, its people and its businesses.

“We are glad we have met this milestone and will continue to ensure ongoing delivery against the goals and regulatory requirements that have been established.”

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