RBI lifts restrictions on American Express; allows onboarding new domestic customers on its card network

The Reserve Bank on Wednesday lifted the restrictions on American Express Banking Corp and allowed onboarding of new domestic customers on its card network.

The central bank had imposed curbs on American Express Banking Corp for being non-compliant with the directions on Storage of Payment System Data effective May 1, 2021.

"In view of the satisfactory compliance demonstrated by American Express Banking Corp with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular... On Storage of Payment System Data, the restrictions imposed... On onboarding of new domestic customers have been lifted with immediate effect," the central bank said in a statement.

In April 2018, all payment system providers were directed to ensure that their entire data (full end-to-end transaction details/ information collected/ carried/ processed as part of the message/ payment instruction) relating to payment systems operated by them is stored in a system only in India.

They were also required to report compliance to RBI and submit a board-approved System Audit Report (SAR) conducted by a CERT-In empanelled auditor within the specified timelines.