RBI allows multinational banks to store limited data abroad

Bringing a closure to a contentious issue, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed multinational banks operating in the country to store a limited set of data in offshore servers. Certain fields of static information such as name and address of client, some know-your-customer details along with select transaction particulars like date and amount, name of beneficiary, and reference number can be stored abroad by foreign banks. “This is giving foreign banks a small leeway. There are close to 40 data fields, out of which around 30 are important. After several meetings and representations, RBI has now permitted the banks to keep a handful of data overseas. I guess this brings an end to the matter which has been debated for more than three years now. Further concessions are unlikely, and banks should implement this ASAP,” said a banker.