RBI tightens payment rails

India’s central bank just told banks to move inbound money from abroad faster and, at the same time, floated a plan to slow some domestic digital payments down on purpose. On April 9, 2026, the Reserve Bank of India ordered same-business-day credit for eligible inward foreign payments and opened a consultation on a one-hour pause for some transfers above ₹10,000. (rbi.org.in) (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The first change hits remittances, which are the payments families and workers receive from abroad. The Reserve Bank of India said banks must inform customers immediately when an inward payment message arrives and must credit payments received during foreign-exchange market hours on the same business day. (rbi.org.in) That sounds basic, but many banks were still waiting for end-of-day statements from their overseas accounts before treating money as confirmed. The Reserve Bank of India said reconciliation of those “nostro” accounts should normally not take more than one hour, instead of being left to batch processing at day’s end. (rbi.org.in) India has a reason to care about shaving hours off this process. Economic Times reported India received more than $135 billion in remittances in 2025, making it the world’s biggest remittance recipient, and the same report said fewer than 8% to 10% of inward remittances in India were being credited within an hour. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The second move goes in the opposite direction because the problem is different. In its fraud paper, the Reserve Bank of India proposed a one-hour delay for account-to-account digital transfers above ₹10,000 made by individuals, sole proprietors, and partnership firms when there is no chargeback route after a scam. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The bank picked ₹10,000 for a reason. Economic Times said transactions above that level account for about 45% of fraud cases by volume and about 98.5% of total fraud value in National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal data. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The proposal also adds a “kill switch,” which works like an emergency brake for your payment life. Customers would be able to shut off all digital payments instantly through mobile banking, internet banking, branches, or interactive voice response systems, instead of calling around after money is already moving. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) Older customers get a separate layer of protection in the draft. For senior citizens and persons with disabilities, the Reserve Bank of India proposed extra verification for transfers above ₹50,000, including possible approval from a pre-designated trusted person. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) There is also a crackdown on “mule” accounts, which are ordinary-looking bank accounts used to receive stolen money and pass it along. The proposal would cap annual credits at ₹25 lakh for accounts that have not gone through enhanced due diligence, with higher limits requiring more proof about the customer’s business profile and source of funds. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The backdrop is a payments system that got huge very fast. Economic Times said digital payment volumes in India grew at a compound annual rate of 53% over the past decade, while reported fraud cases rose from 2.6 lakh in 2021 to 28 lakh in 2025 and reported fraud value jumped from ₹551 crore to nearly ₹22,931 crore. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) For banks and payment firms, this is not just a policy memo. The inward-payment circular gives them six months to meet the new deadlines, and the fraud paper leaves comments open until May 8, 2026, which means engineers now have a live design brief for faster reconciliations on one side and deliberate friction, alerts, and shutoff controls on the other. (rbi.org.in) (economictimes.indiatimes.com)