RBI establishes digital payments intelligence platform to mitigate fraud risk

To advance this initiative, the Reserve Bank has formed a committee led by A.P. Hota, former MD & CEO of NPCI, to explore setting up a digital public infrastructure for the platform.

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank has decided to set up a Digital Payments Intelligence Platform which will harness advanced technologies to reduce payment fraud risks, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday.

To take this initiative forward, the Reserve Bank has constituted a committee headed by A.P. Hota, former MD & CEO, NPCI, to examine various aspects of setting up a digital public infrastructure for the platform. The Committee is expected to give its recommendations within two months, the RBI Governor said.

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He explained that many frauds occur by influencing unsuspecting victims to make the payment or share credentials. While the payment ecosystem (banks, NPCI, card networks, payment aggregators, and payment apps) takes various measures on an ongoing basis to protect customers from such frauds, there is a need for network-level intelligence and real-time data sharing across payment systems.

Das said the Reserve Bank, over the years, has undertaken a number of measures for the safety and security of digital payments to maintain public confidence in digital payment systems. Sustaining such confidence would require minimising the incidence of fraud.

He also said that the RBI has been encouraging innovation in identified focus areas through its annual Hackathons as part of the steps to enhance security.

“The third edition of our global hackathon, ‘HaRBInger 2024 – Innovation for Transformation’ will be launched with two overarching themes viz., ‘Zero Financial Frauds’ and ‘Being Divyang Friendly’. Solutions aimed at enhancing the safety and security of digital transactions with a focus on detecting, preventing and combating financial frauds, as well as prioritising inclusivity for persons with physical disabilities, will be invited as part of HaRBInger 2024. Further details in this regard shall be released shortly,” the RBI Governor said.