RBI lifts ban on American Express

The Reserve Bank of India has lifted the ban on new customer acquisition by American Express which was imposed with effect from May 2021 due to non-compliance with local data storage norms.

“In view of the satisfactory compliance demonstrated by American Express Banking Corp. with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular dated April 6, 2018, on Storage of Payment System Data, the restrictions imposed, vide order dated April 23, 2021, on onboarding of new domestic customers have been lifted with immediate effect,” RBI said.

Similar bans were imposed on Diners Club International and Mastercard previously. The ban on Diners Club was lifted in November last year, while the restrictions on Mastercard was removed in June this year.