In order to check rising instances of fraud and cyber security threats, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said it will introduce exclusive internet domain name 'bank.in' and 'fin.in' for Indian financial institutions.

Unveiling the last bi-monthly monetary policy of this fiscal year, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said registrations for 'bank.in' will commence from April 2025, and going forward 'fin.in' will be introduced.

"Increased instances of fraud in digital payments are a significant concern. To combat the same, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is introducing the 'bank.in' exclusive Internet Domain for Indian banks. This initiative aims to reduce cyber security threats and malicious activities like phishing; and, streamline secure financial services, thereby enhancing trust in digital banking and payment services," the RBI said in a statement.

The 'bank.in' domain will be available exclusively to Indian banks, providing a secure and easily identifiable online presence for these institutions. This move is expected to streamline access to secure financial services and enhance customer confidence in digital banking.

The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) will act as the exclusive registrar.

Going forward, Malhotra, who is an engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, said it is planned to have an exclusive domain -- 'fin.in' -- for non-bank entities in the financial sector.

The RBI also decided to introduce an additional layer of security by enabling Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) in cross-border 'Card Not Present' transactions.

The central bank said that introduction of AFA for digital payments has enhanced the safety of transactions which, in turn, provided confidence to customers to adopt digital payments.

This requirement, however, is mandatory for domestic transactions only.

"In order to provide a similar level of safety for online international transactions using cards issued in India, it is proposed to enable AFA for international card not present (online) transactions as well," the RBI said.

This will provide an additional layer of security in cases where the overseas merchant is enabled for AFA. Draft circular will be issued shortly for feedback from stakeholders.