The Reserve Bank of India has placed consumer empowerment at the centre of its Payments Vision 2028, with a focus on enabling portable bank accounts and improving the efficiency of cross-border payments.
Focus on Account Portability
The central bank’s approach reflects an effort to enhance user experience and reduce friction in the movement of money. While customers are free to open accounts with any bank, savings accounts often remain tied to institutions due to multiple standing instructions linked to them for sending and receiving funds.
To address this, the Reserve Bank is working on a Payments Switching Service that will centralise such mandates. The proposed system is expected to help customers manage and migrate payment instructions more easily, reducing dependence on individual banks and supporting greater account portability.
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Unified Interface for Payment Instructions
The Payments Switching Service is expected to provide a unified interface through which customers can view and transfer both incoming and outgoing payment instructions. This is aimed at simplifying account management and enabling smoother transitions between banks.
By consolidating mandates in one system, the initiative seeks to address operational frictions that currently limit flexibility for account holders and contribute to the “stickiness” of savings accounts.
Push for Cross-Border Payment Efficiency
Improving cross-border payments is another key priority under the vision. The Reserve Bank plans a comprehensive review of the payments ecosystem to identify regulatory, operational and technological bottlenecks.
The proposed measures are aimed at lowering entry barriers for firms, encouraging innovation and reducing delays in international fund transfers. These efforts align with broader initiatives to strengthen global payment linkages, including agreements with other countries to integrate domestic fast payment systems and facilitate the acceptance of central bank digital currencies.
