INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
RBI's limiting action against Mastercard has been seen as heavy-handed by an US officialA senior United States trade official
independently criticised India's July decision to prohibit Mastercard Inc from providing new cards, calling it a draconian relocation
that caused panic , according to US federal government e-mails seen by Reuters.The documents reveal aggravation within the United States
government after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prohibited new card issuance by American Express and Diners Club International in April, then
took comparable action against Mastercard in July.The RBI implicates the companies of breaking local data-storage guidelines
The restrictions do not affect existing customers.The ban on Mastercard - a top payment network in India along with Visa - activated a
flurry of emails in between United States officials in Washington and India as they talked about next steps with Mastercard, including
approaching the RBI, the federal government emails show
We have actually started hearing from stakeholders about some pretty severe measures that the RBI has actually taken control of the past
couple days, Brendan A Lynch, the deputy assistant United States trade agent for South and Central Asia, composed on July 16, 2 days after
the Mastercard announcement
It seems like some others (Amex, Diners) may have been affected by similar actions recently, composed Mr Lynch, asking his colleagues in
India to contact their central bank contacts to see what's going on
Mr Lynch, spokespeople for the Workplace of the United States Trade Agent and the US Embassy in New Delhi did not respond to requests for
The United States federal government has actually not publicly discussed the Mastercard ban.The RBI did not immediately respond.A Mastercard
spokesman told Reuters, We have actually had really positive engagements with the Indian and United States federal governments over the
previous couple of weeks and value the assistance of both
This consists of conversations with the RBI, and Mastercard has actually made great progress as it seeks to solve the circumstance
Panic , Full Court Press Mastercard counts India as an essential growth market
In 2019 it stated it was bullish on India , a nation where it has actually made major financial investment bets and built research and
innovation centres.The Mastercard ban rattled the business and upset India's financial sector as Indian partner banks fear a hit to their
earnings as they struggle to promptly partner with new networks to use cards.The RBI acted versus Mastercard because it was found to be
non-compliant with the 2018 rules regardless of the lapse of significant time and sufficient opportunities
The rules, requiring foreign card networks to save Indian payments information locally for unconfined supervisory access , were implemented
after stopped working lobbying efforts of US companies also soured trade ties in between New Delhi and Washington.Mastercard has stated it
was dissatisfied with the choice
The business has told Reuters it had actually submitted an extra audit report to the RBI before the restriction worked on July 22
The United States federal government emails show there was hope things could be figured out before that.In one, Mr Lynch told associates the
understanding was that the RBI has info they need and are enthusiastic that they will react appropriately
But as the restriction approached, if the RBI doesn't change course, I make certain the panic will resume, he wrote.Days later on, he
composed that Mastercard was continuing to place on the full court press in Washington.
