- As cybercrime incidents continue to rise, the nation’s top 200 banks are gearing up to transition their online banking services to the new domain ‘bank.in’.
- With the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) setting a deadline of October 31 for this shift, all 12 nationalized banks and leading private sector banks have already received their new web addresses.
- According to Kumar, director of the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), “We’ve already covered over 95% of the banking sector’s business, as the top 20 banks account for more than 80% of the total.” The IDRBT has been designated as the sole registrar for the ‘bank.in’ domain.
- In April, the RBI issued a directive requiring all Indian banks to move their net banking services to this exclusive domain by October 31.
- This initiative aims to enhance cybersecurity, promote self-reliance in the banking sector, and combat online fraud.
As cybercrime incidents continue to rise, the nation’s top 200 banks are gearing up to transition their online banking services to the new domain ‘bank.in’. With the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) setting a deadline of October 31 for this shift, all 12 nationalized banks and leading private sector banks have already received their new web addresses.
According to Kumar, director of the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), “We’ve already covered over 95% of the banking sector’s business, as the top 20 banks account for more than 80% of the total.” The IDRBT has been designated as the sole registrar for the ‘bank.in’ domain.
In April, the RBI issued a directive requiring all Indian banks to move their net banking services to this exclusive domain by October 31. This initiative aims to enhance cybersecurity, promote self-reliance in the banking sector, and combat online fraud.
Kumar noted that all banks are expected to finish onboarding and testing by October 30. He mentioned that the migration process is being carried out carefully, following necessary testing protocols.
Addressing concerns about what will happen to existing URLs when banks update their web addresses, Kumar explained that banks might reserve their old URLs or maintain control over them to thwart potential misuse by fraudsters. They will also redirect customers from the old URL to the new ‘bank.in’ address.
“After October 31, banks won’t be able to operate from two URLs at the same time. The approach to redirecting and managing the old URL will vary from bank to bank,” he added.
He mentioned that the new domain will enhance customer trust and security, especially as cyber fraud continues to rise. “Right now, banks and financial institutions are using generic domains like .com, .in, and .co.in, which makes it easy for fraudsters to set up fake websites that look similar. Customers often find it hard to verify which banking URLs are real. With bank.in, they can feel assured that they’re visiting legitimate banking sites. This will greatly lower the chances of phishing and spoofing attacks.”
Regarding the effect on the banking sector, he noted, “There won’t be much of a change. It’s really just like changing the address on an envelope, to put it simply.” He added that ‘bank.in’ will offer better security since IDRBT will be the exclusive registrar for this domain.
Kumar also pointed out that it will lessen the reliance on foreign service providers for DNS resolution, a need that became apparent after the Russia-Ukraine war when financial systems were weaponized on a global scale.