India bans Mastercard from issuing new cards in the country

Mastercard has not complied with data storage rules, the Reserve Bank of India said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has indefinitely banned Mastercard from issuing new debit or credit cards to local customers for violating data storage rules, reports Reuters.

The ban is effective 22 July.

In a notification, the RBI said Mastercard had not complied with data storage rules from 2018 that require foreign card networks to store Indian payments data "only in India" so the regulator can have "unfettered supervisory access".

"Notwithstanding the lapse of considerable time and adequate opportunities being given, the entity (Mastercard) has been found to be non-compliant with the directions," the RBI said.

Mastercard said it was "disappointed" with the RBI's decision and that it had provided regular updates on its compliance with the rules since 2018. "We will continue to work with them to provide any additional details required to resolve their concerns," it said in a statement.

Here’s more from Reuters.