India flexes its data storage rules

In July 2021, the Reserve Bank of India banned Mastercard from issuing new debit, credit or prepaid cards to customers in India because it failed to comply with local data storage rules (ie, to store all payment data within India). As Mastercard is a top issuer of such cards, this ban will likely change the calculus on whether to comply (see link).

Mastercard is not the only financial services company to feel the ire of the Reserve Bank. The Reserve Bank in April 2021 similarly banned American Express and Diners Club (see link).

Image by TheDigitalWay from Pixabay