**Executive Summary**
This document, issued by the Reserve Bank to all scheduled commercial banks, provides guidelines to facilitate faster cross-border inward payments, aligning with the Payments Vision 2025 and the G20 roadmap. Banks are required to take specific actions to streamline processes and improve the speed of crediting inward payments. The directions outlined in paragraph 3 will be effective six months from the date of the circular.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Customer Communication:**
* Banks must immediately inform customers upon receipt of cross-border inward transactions.
* For messages received after operating hours, customers must be informed at the start of the next business day.
* **Reconciliation Process:**
* Banks should reconcile and confirm credit in nostro accounts either in near real time or at periodic intervals, ideally not exceeding thirty minutes, rather than relying solely on end-of-day statements.
* **Payment Crediting:**
* Banks shall credit inward payments received during foreign exchange market hours within the same business day, or the next business day for payments received after market hours, adhering to FEMA and other regulatory requirements.
* **Automated Processing:**
* Banks may implement a straight-through process for crediting inward payments to resident accounts, in compliance with FEMA guidelines and based on risk assessment.
* **Digital Interface:**
* Banks should strive to offer a digital interface to customers for foreign exchange transactions, enabling submission of documents/information and monitoring of transactions within a reasonable timeframe.
**Impact Analysis**
**Scheduled Commercial Banks**
* **Impact**
* Changes to reconciliation and payment crediting processes.
* Implementation of customer notification procedures.
* Possible establishment of digital interfaces.
* **Action Required**
* Update reconciliation and payment processes to ensure prompt crediting.
* Implement procedures for informing customers about inward transactions.
* Explore providing a digital interface for foreign exchange transactions.
Key Entities Referenced
Payments Vision 2025: A Reserve Bank initiative aimed at improving the efficiency, speed, transparency, and accessibility of cross-border payments in alignment with the G20 roadmap.
Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007: The Act under which the circular's directive is issued, specifically Sections 10(2) and 18.
FEMA: Foreign Exchange Management Act, regulatory requirements mentioned in crediting inward payments.
Scheduled Commercial Banks: The entities to whom the guidelines for faster cross-border inward payments are addressed and directed.
DPSS.CO.ID.No / 06.08.017 / 2025-26 DD-MM-YYYY
The Chairman / Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer
All Scheduled Commercial Banks
Madam / Dear Sir,
Guidelines to facilitate faster cross-border inward payments
The Reserve Bank’s Payments Vision 2025 aims to bring efficiency in the cross-border
payments aligning with the G20 roadmap to make them cheaper, faster, more
transparent, and more accessible.
2. The speed of cross-border payments is affected by several factors. One of
these factors is the delay at the beneficiary leg i.e., the time taken from receipt of the
payment at the beneficiary bank till credit to the beneficiary account. Streamlining the
processes at the beneficiary bank would ensure timely intimation of payment
information and credit to the beneficiary’s account.
3. Accordingly, banks are advised as under:
a. Banks shall inform their customer of the receipt of cross-border inward
transactions immediately on receipt of inward message. Messages received
after close of operating hours of the individual banks shall be informed to the
customer immediately at the start of the next business day.
b. It is observed that several banks rely upon end-of-day statements of the nostro
account for confirming and reconciling receipts in nostro accounts, resulting in
delayed credit. To expedite this process, banks are advised to undertake
reconciliation and confirmation of credit in the nostro account either on near real
time basis or at periodic intervals. The reconciliation interval should normally not
exceed thirty minutes.
c. Banks shall endeavour to credit the inward payments received during the
foreign exchange market hours within the same business day to the
beneficiary’s account, and credit the inward payments received after market
hours on the next business day, subject to compliance with the extant FEMA
and other regulatory requirements.d. Banks may, based on their risk assessment and subject to compliance with
extant FEMA guidelines, put in place a straight through process for crediting
inward payments to the account of individual residents.
e. Banks may, within a reasonable time frame, endeavour to provide digital
interface to their customers to facilitate foreign exchange transactions, including
submission of documents or information, and monitoring of transactions.
4. The directions at para 3 above shall be effective six months from the date of
this circular.
5. The directive is issued under Section 10(2) read with Section 18 of Payment
and Settlement Systems Act 2007, (Act 51 of 2007).
Yours faithfully,
(Gunveer Singh)
Chief General Manager-in-Charge
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