AmEx can issue new cards in India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lifted the business restrictions imposed on American Express Banking Corp, citing satisfactory compliance demonstrated by the entity to RBI rules. American Express Banking Corp is a Payment System Operator authorized to operate Card Networks in the country under the Payment and Settlement Systems (PSS) Act, 2007.

The firm has complied with the RBI circular on Storage of Payment System Data, and the restrictions that were imposed based on boarding of new domestic customers have been lifted with immediate effect.

Sanjay Khanna - Interim Country Manager & COO, American Express Banking Corp, said, “We welcome today’s decision by the Reserve Bank of India, which enables American Express Network to onboard new customers effective immediately. India is a key strategic market for American Express and today's decision is the result of our significant local investments in technology, infrastructure, and resources.”

Similar bans were imposed on Diners Club International and Mastercard previously. The ban on Diners Club was lifted in November last year, while the restrictions on Mastercard was removed in June this year.

Companies such as Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Diners’ Club have been required to store Indian payments data locally since 2018. This was done to provide the reserve bank “unfettered supervisory access”.