- India’s Reserve Bank is launching new .bank.in and .fin.in domains
- They will prove the authenticity of a banking website
- Digital fraud is on the rise in the country
India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is set to introduce a brand-new ‘.bank.in’ domain in April 2025 to combat digital fraud (via Reuters).
The central bank governor warned lenders against rising instances of frauds in digital payments – the new secure website domain is hoped to stamp out dodgy financial activity by proving authenticity.
Additionally, a separate ‘.fin.in’ domain is also set to be rolled out for non-bank financial institutions in the country, all in a bid to tackle rising cases of fraud.
Indian banking domains launched to tackle fraud
The governor confirmed that the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) will be the only domain registrar for the new .bank.in and .fin.in domains, imposing strict controls over who can register them.
The updated domains will help users differentiate between legitimate banking websites and fraudulent ones. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said that the initiative would also help reduce cyber threats like phishing attacks, which India has been struggling with more than ever.
Fraudsters typically use slightly different domain names that can look similar to legitimate ones, therefore having an exclusive set of trusted domains will help strengthen security. That said, threat actors could still use ‘typosquatting’ techniques, such as swapping the letter ‘i’ out for an ‘l’, so Indian banking customers will still need to bear this in mind when checking the domain in their address bar.
Other security measures employed by India’s financial sector include the Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) for domestic digital payments.
Malhotra summarized: “The surge in digital frauds is a matter of concern, warranting action by all stakeholders.”
Detailed guidelines regarding the new domains are set to be issued separately by the RBI.
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