RBI has directed all regulated Indian banks to use.Bank.in which previously ended in .com or .co.in, including banks like SBI, ICICI, HDFC. The decision has been taken in order to protect the customers from phishing schemes by digital fraudsters, using fake domains to build trust.
All banks to use “.Bank.in” domain
- The apex financial body in the country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that all the regulating banks are required to use the “.Bank.in” domain structure to distinguish themselves from the fake domains used by scammers to lure victims. Government and private banks, including the State Bank of India, ICICI, HDFC, Punjab National Bank, etc., will follow the guidelines.
- As per the circular issued by the RBI, all the banks are directed to change their domain to.Bank.in the domain structure for the net banking website by October 31, 2025. A viral post, which was presumably addressed to a central bank, mentioned the deadline as October 21, 2025.
- The RBI report on digital fraud and loss showed a significant increase in the cases. In the 2023-2024 FY, there were 36,075 cases reported with a loss of ₹13,930 crore.
- In view of the rise in the number of cases, the guidelines will enhance credibility and reduce the number of phishing cases. It will help the customers to identify the real website and ensure a smooth transaction process.
What is phishing?
Phishing is a cybersecurity threat by scammers to trick someone into giving sensitive details like passwords, OTP, CVV, etc. The attacker pretends to be a legitimate company and someone from your company to gain trust, to make you click on an infected file, a malicious URL and ask you to fill out a form to extract personal information. In 2024, there were 36.37 lakh cyber frauds reported through the National Crime Reporting Portal in the country, and Indians lost ₹22,845.73 crore.
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