The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandated that all banks in the country must migrate their net banking website addresses to the exclusive “.bank.in” internet domain by October 31, 2025. Major banks like SBI and PNB have already completed the move.
Business Impact
This is a significant, positive security move for the entire Indian financial sector. It aims to drastically reduce phishing and website spoofing, as the “.bank.in” domain is restricted and verified, increasing public trust in digital banking and lowering fraud-related losses.
Why It Happened
The RBI initiated this to create a “walled garden” for banking, making it much harder for cybercriminals to register look-alike domains (e.g., “sbi-logon.com”) to trick customers. The new domain acts as a visual verification of authenticity.
Recommended Executive Action
For financial leaders: While this is specific to India, it represents a global trend in building trust. Executives should ensure their own organizations are using all available brand protection measures (like DMARC, registered trademarks, and domain monitoring) to combat spoofing and protect customers.
Hashtags: #RBI #India #Banking #CyberSecurity #Phishing #BrandProtection #InfoSec #Finance