RBI Eases Inward Flows

The Reserve Bank of India told banks to move faster when money comes into India from abroad, with same-day credit during foreign-exchange market hours as the new target. (rbi.org.in) The circular, issued on April 9, 2026, says banks must alert customers as soon as an inward cross-border payment message arrives. If the message lands after operating hours, the bank must notify the customer at the start of the next business day. (rbi.org.in) The Reserve Bank also told banks to stop waiting for end-of-day account statements to confirm receipts. It said reconciliation of funds in overseas correspondent accounts should happen near real time or at intervals that “normally” do not exceed one hour. (rbi.org.in) For payments received during foreign-exchange market hours, banks are asked to credit the beneficiary account the same business day. Payments received after market hours should be credited on the next business day, subject to foreign-exchange rules and other regulatory checks. (rbi.org.in) The change is aimed at the last leg of a remittance, not the whole international transfer. In its press release, the Reserve Bank said it was targeting “frictions” between the moment a bank receives the inward payment message and the moment the customer actually gets the money. (rbi.org.in) India is the world’s largest remittance recipient, with estimated inflows of $129 billion in 2024, according to the World Bank. That makes even small delays at the beneficiary bank consequential for households waiting on salary support, family maintenance money, or other personal transfers. (worldbank.org) The Reserve Bank tied the move to its Payments Vision 2025 and to Group of Twenty targets for cross-border payments that call for transfers to become cheaper, faster, more transparent, and more accessible. The final circular follows a draft published on October 29, 2025, after which the central bank said it reviewed stakeholder feedback and made changes before issuing the final version. (rbi.org.in 1) (rbi.org.in 2) (rbi.org.in 3) The circular also opens the door to more automation. Banks may set up straight-through processing for crediting inward payments to accounts of individual residents, based on their own risk assessment and compliance with the Foreign Exchange Management Act rules. (rbi.org.in) That matters most for consumer remittances, which already run through channels such as the Money Transfer Service Scheme and Rupee Drawing Arrangements. Under those existing frameworks, India permits inward personal remittances and maintains bank tie-ups with overseas exchange houses for receipt into India. (rbi.org.in 1) (rbi.org.in 2) The rules do not take effect immediately. The Reserve Bank gave banks six months from April 9, 2026 to implement the changes, so the real test will come in late 2026 when customers can see whether “faster inward payments” means money landing the same day instead of waiting overnight. (rbi.org.in)