Mastercard Asia Pacific Pte Ltd banned to On-board New Domestic Clients

Current Context: The Reserve Bank of India has imposed restrictions on Mastercard Asia Pacific Pte Ltd from onboarding new domestic customers of debit, credit or prepaid onto its card network.

• The restrictions are effective from 22nd July 2021.
• The reason for the restrictions was defined as non-compliance with the storage of data in India.
• There won’t be any impact of the restrictions on existing customers of Mastercard.
• RBI has directed Mastercard to advise all card-issuing banks and non-banks to follow the restrictions.
• The restriction action by the RBI on Mastercard was taken under powers defined in Section 17 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act).
• In April 2018, RBI had issued a circular directing all system providers to ensure that all information related to payments systems operated by them are stored in India. All the firms were given a period of six months to comply and report compliance to RBI.
• Static Part: 
• HQ of RBI: Mumbai
• Governor of RBI: Shaktikanta Das
• HQ of Mastercard (India): Mumbai
• HQ of Mastercard (Global): New York, USA