The last date to tokenise your credit cards and debit cards is fast approaching, and if you do not follow this new mandate by the Reserve Bank of India, you may have to give more time while making online payments. After a host of delays in implementation, the credit card and debit card tokenisation rules will come into effect from October 1. Under these rules, domestic merchants cannot store your card information like its number and CVV when you make an online payment. The RBI has notified these tokenisation guidelines to make the online payment system more secured and safe, whereby consumers will have the ultimate authority before anyone can access their sensitive information.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CREDIT CARD, DEBIT CARD NEW RULES
1. What is Debit Card, Credit Card Tokenisation?
A. According to the RBI website, “Tokenisation refers to replacement of actual card details with an alternate code called the “token”, which shall be unique for a combination of card, token requestor (i.e. the entity which accepts request from the customer for tokenisation of a card and passes it on to the card network to issue a corresponding token) and device (referred hereafter as “identified device”)." Customers who do transactions online have already been receiving notifications to save or tokenise their card before October 1, meaning the deadline is on September 30.
2. Is Tokenisation Mandatory?
A. No, tokenisation of debit and credit cards is not mandatory. A customer can also choose not to tokenise their cards but in that case paying online will take more time.
3. What is the Need for Tokenisation?
A. The RBI has reiterated several times that a tokenised card will ensure that there are lesser frauds committed in terms of domestic online payments. Credit card and debit card tokenisation does not allow merchants to store your data, and also gives an added layer of protection through entering your CVV and the OTP received, thereby making online transactions more safe.
4. How Do I Tokenise My Debit and Credit Cards?
A. The card holder can get the card tokenised by initiating a request on the app provided by the token requestor, which is the customer. The token requestor will forward the request to the card network which, with the consent of the card issuer, will issue a token corresponding to the combination of the card, the token requestor, and the device. Read the detailed process here.
5. What Will Happen if I Don’t Tokenise Debit and Credit Cards by September 30?
A. If you do not tokenise your card by September 30, you will have to enter all card details over again while buying anything online. This is because existing data, including your name, card number and CVV, will be deleted from the server. Tokenisation is only applicable to domestic online transactions, and you do not need to perform the process for international online transactions.
