The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on November 28, 2025, issued the Reserve Bank of India (Small Finance Banks – Digital Banking Channels Authorisation) Directions, 2025.
The following has been stated namely: -
• These Directions shall come into effect from January 01, 2026.
• The directions define "digital banking channels" broadly — including Internet-banking (web), Mobile-banking (apps, USSD, SMS), and any other customer-facing digital modes that enable banking transactions via digital devices.
• Banks (including small-finance banks) shall put in place comprehensive internal policies and procedures for all digital banking channels — covering statutory/regulatory compliance, liquidity management, operational and cyber-security risks — with senior management responsible for oversight.
• Digital access may be offered in two formats: a “view-only facility” (balance checks, statements etc.) for banks meeting certain infrastructure/compatibility requirements, or a full “transactional facility” (fund transfers, payments) — but banks need prior RBI approval before launching transactional banking channels.
• The directions ensure that banks cannot force customers to opt for digital channels to access other services (e.g. debit‐cards), guaranteeing that digital banking remains optional and based on explicit customer consent.
• The new framework consolidates all previous circulars/guidelines into a unified master-direction regime aiming for regulatory consistency, ease of compliance, and a uniform standard for digital banking across different banks and banking categories.
[Notification no.- RBI/DOR/2025-26/381 DOR.RAUG.AUT.REC.304/24.01.041/2025-26]
