RBI norms on tokenisation of card transaction

Mumbai, January 8

The Reserve Bank of India today released guidelines on tokenisation for various card transactions, including from debit and credit cards.

Tokenisation, which aims at improving security of the payment system, refers to replacement of actual card details with a unique alternative code called the “token”.

Instead of using actual card details, this token is used to perform card transactions in contact-less mode at point of sale (PoS) terminals, quick response (QR) code payments.

The RBI has given permission to offer tokenised card transaction services to all channels such as near field communication (NFC), magnetic secure transmission (MST)-based contact-less transactions, in-app payments, QR code-based payments or token-storage mechanisms.

At present, tokenised card transaction facility would be offered through mobile phones or tablets. Tokenisation and de-tokenisation shall be performed only by the authorised card network. A customer would not have to pay any charges for availing the service. — PTI