RBI Directs Mastercard And Visa To Halt Corporate Card Payments

New Delhi, Feb 15 (KNN) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has instructed Mastercard and Visa to halt commercial payments facilitated by corporate cards.

On Wednesday, Mastercard, Visa, and several bankers engaged with the RBI following a letter issued on February 8, as reported by FE.

In accordance with the directive dated February 8, the banking regulator mandated these firms to suspend all transactions involving business payment solution providers (BPSPs) until further notice.

Visa, in an email statement, acknowledged receiving communication from the RBI on Thursday, February 8, pertaining to an industry-wide inquiry into the role of BPSPs in commercial and business payments.

This communication included a directive to suspend all BPSP transactions. Visa highlighted that BPSPs are subject to regulation and licensing by the RBI under the PA PG (payment aggregator/payment gateway) guidelines.

It further stated that Visa is actively engaged in discussions with the RBI and ecosystem partners to ensure compliance, redirecting any further queries to the BPSPs.

While the RBI has not disclosed the underlying rationale for these measures, industry experts speculate that concerns over funds flowing through card transactions towards non-KYC-ed (Know Your Customer) merchants may have prompted regulatory action.

Additionally, suspicions of fraud or money laundering in certain high-value transactions could have contributed to the directive.

(KNN Bureau)