India's central bank wants to impose new domain on banks

In India, the mandatory domains "bank.in" and "fin.in" are intended to help increase trust in digital financial services. The reason for this is the high number of fraud attempts in this area, according to the Indian central bank. The aim is to give consumers the security of knowing that they can bank online without putting their data at risk.

According to the Reserve Bank of India, the registration of institutions via the domain "bank.in" and thus visible legitimacy should make it easier for consumers to recognize fake banking websites. The measure is intended to reduce threats such as phishing attacks.

One factor that contributes to fraud is the high number of banks and lenders in India. These make it easy for criminals to obtain data. There are 12 state-owned banks, 21 private banks and 43 regional banks in India. Apart from these, there are another 300 cooperative banks and 3,651 banks for agriculture or rural development, reports The Register.

The so-called Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology will manage the registrations. The banks are to register for the new bank.in domain from April.

The "fin.in" domain, on the other hand, is aimed at all other service providers, such as credit unions, which have nothing to do with the banking business and offer a different financially-oriented service. Exact details about "fin.in" and when it will be available are not yet known.

(tlz)