The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) on December 29, 2025, issued a circular on Internet banking services to clients of IBUs.
The Authority has reviewed its earlier circular dated April 22, 2024 on internet banking services for International Banking Units (IBUs) and has prescribed specific compliance requirements for different categories of internet banking services—Information Service, Interactive Information Exchange Service, and Transactional Service.
Applicability and Compliance Timelines
• IBUs not offering liability products are exempt from compliance requirements related to Interactive Information Exchange and Transactional Services.
• IBUs commencing operations after the issuance of this circular must comply with all requirements before offering liability products.
• IBUs that commenced operations prior to this circular must comply by June 30, 2026. Failure to do so will require them to stop onboarding new liability-product customers from July 1, 2026.
• IBUs must obtain and document explicit customer consent for registration or deregistration of internet banking services.
Information Service Requirements
• IBUs must clearly display:
o The list of currencies in which transactions are offered, including conversion facilities.
o Cut-off timings, if any, for transactions to qualify for same-day value.
Interactive Information Exchange Service Requirements
IBUs must provide a unified digital banking dashboard enabling customers to:
• View real-time balances across linked accounts.
• Access live currency conversion rates and applicable spreads.
• View and download account statements in machine-readable formats with transaction references and details.
• Provide disposal instructions for inward remittances.
• Apply for premature deposit withdrawals.
• Receive transaction alerts via SMS or email, as feasible.
Transactional Service Requirements
At a minimum, internet banking platforms must support:
• Dual-factor authentication.
• Fund transfers within the same IBU and to third parties (within or outside the IBU).
• Creation of fixed deposits.
• Corporate user access management, including maker-checker controls.
• Pre-approved beneficiary lists and whitelisting (including fintech partners).
• Currency conversion for permitted currency pairs.
• Automated payout scheduling (one-time, recurring, or rule-based).
• Pre-execution validation tools to detect errors, currency mismatches, or regulatory non-compliance.
[File No. IFSCA-FMPP0BR/5/2024-Banking]
