CHAPTER IX - PAYMENT AND SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - Revision

RBI Annual Report 2025-26
CHAPTER IX
PAYMENT AND SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

PART 1: COMPLETE REVISION NOTE

1. Overview and Strategic Direction

During 2025-26, the Reserve Bank focused on secure, accessible, affordable and efficient payment systems, wider digital adoption, resilience and inclusion, global expansion of UPI/RuPay, and robust ICT infrastructure. Payments Vision 2028, issued on March 27, 2026, provides the digital-payments roadmap up to December 2028.

Payments Vision documents have been issued periodically since 2001, with earlier documents in 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2022 and 2025. DPSS initiatives during the year were aligned with the five pillars of integrity, inclusion, innovation, institutionalisation and internationalisation.

EXAM ALERT: Payments Vision 2028 = issued March 27, 2026; roadmap extends to December 2028.

2. Department of Payment and Settlement Systems (DPSS)

Cashless transactions, defined in the chapter as total payments including digital payments and paper-based instruments, grew 26.8% in volume during 2025-26, after 34.8% growth in 2024-25. Value growth moderated to 13.2% from 17.3%.

RTGS transactions rose 15.7% in volume and 12.9% in value. Retail payment transactions rose 26.8% in volume and 14.0% in value. UPI remained dominant, accounting for nearly 86% of retail payment transactions, with UPI volume up 30.0% and value up 20.6%.

Payment indicator, 2025-26	Volume	Value, ₹ lakh crore
RTGS	3,500 lakh	2,273.7
Retail payments	28,19,536 lakh	1,048.8
Total payments	28,23,036 lakh	3,322.5
Total digital payments	28,17,448 lakh	3,251.0
UPI	24,16,169 lakh	314.2
NEFT	1,00,996 lakh	502.3
IMPS	49,431 lakh	76.7
NACH Credit	18,284 lakh	19.0
Card payments	73,040 lakh	28.1
Paper-based instruments	5,588 lakh	71.5

 

At end-March 2026, authorised non-bank PSOs included 50 PPI issuers, 68 payment aggregators, 5 WLA operators, 1 instant money transfer service provider, 1 BBPCU, 10 BBPOUs, 5 TReDS platforms, 7 MTSS operators, 5 card networks, 2 ATM networks, 1 financial market infrastructure, 1 CCP, 1 retail payments organisation and 1 interoperable mobile/net-banking operator. Approved bank entities included 63 PPI issuers, 46 BBPOUs and 3 ATM networks.

During the year, RBI authorised 23 non-bank Payment Aggregators, 4 non-bank PPI issuers and 1 Interoperable Mobile and Net Banking operator.

EXAM ALERT: UPI: nearly 86% of retail payment transactions; volume growth 30%, value growth 20.6% in 2025-26.

3. 2025-26 DPSS Agenda and Implementation

• Nationwide Survey on Usage of Digital Payments for evidence-based policy.

• Digital Payment Intelligence Platform (DPIP) to strengthen safeguards against digital fraud.

• Payments Vision 2028.

• Identify frictions in cross-border payments and frame suitable regulatory action.

The Survey on Usage of Digital Payments covered more than 30,000 users and 10,000 merchants. 52% of users had adopted digital payments, driven mainly by speed and convenience; adoption varied by age, income, gender and location. 67% of merchants reported accepting digital payments, with most reporting a positive business impact. UPI was the predominant mode for both usage and acceptance.

The first phase of the DPIP prototype, the Smart Registry, has been operational since August 2025. A draft circular on frictions in timely credit to accounts was issued for public consultation on October 29, 2025, and the final circular was issued on April 9, 2026.

Payments Vision 2028 examines, among other things, switch on/off controls across digital payment modes, a shared-responsibility framework for fraud, Cyber Key Risk Indicators for non-bank PSOs, streamlined cross-border authorisation under the PSS Act, 2007 and FEMA, 1999, a possible perpetual regulatory sandbox for small payment-system providers, portability of payment instructions when changing bank accounts, better payment-data access/research capacity, critical banking entities within the regulatory fold, a uniform Legal Entity Identifier approach, electronic cheques, and interoperability in TReDS.

4. Major DPSS Developments

• AePS touchpoint operators: directions streamlined onboarding of AePS Touchpoint Operators and strengthened risk management by acquiring banks.

• Payment Aggregator Master Direction: rationalised PA categorisation, enhanced merchant due diligence, and brought online, physical and cross-border aggregation under regulation. The cited Master Direction is dated September 15, 2025.

• Authentication mechanism: encourages new authentication factors and requires card issuers to validate additional factor authentication for cross-border card-not-present transactions when requested by overseas merchants/acquirers.

• Cheque Truncation System: continuous clearing and settlement on realisation went live in Phase 1 on October 4, 2025. Cheques are scanned, presented and processed continuously rather than in batches, reducing the cycle from T+1 days to a few hours. Banks are required to credit customer accounts within one hour of successful settlement confirmation.

• Payments Regulatory Board: amendments to Section 3 of the PSS Act, 2007, made through Finance Act, 2017, came into effect on May 9, 2025. PRB replaced the erstwhile BPSS. First PRB meeting: January 5, 2026, Mumbai, chaired by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra.

EXAM ALERT: CTS Phase 1: October 4, 2025; cycle reduced from T+1 to a few hours. PRB replaced BPSS effective May 9, 2025.

5. Global Outreach of Payment Systems

India-Singapore UPI-PayNow bilateral FPS linkage has enabled real-time cross-border personal remittances since February 2023. Project Nexus, a multilateral FPS-linking project for cross-border remittances, is ongoing.

UPI QR-code merchant acceptance is operational in Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the UAE. UPI-like infrastructure deployment is ongoing in Namibia and Peru. RuPay stack deployment for domestic card schemes has been completed in Mauritius and the UAE. International expansion is driven through NPCI International Payments Limited and overseas partners.

RBI-DPI is computed semi-annually and continued to show deepening of digital payments. During 2025-26, RBI conducted onsite inspections of 90 PSOs under Section 16 of the PSS Act, 2007: CCIL, one retail payment organisation, 36 non-bank PPI issuers, 30 PAs, 10 BBPOUs, 4 card networks, 4 WLAOs, 3 TReDS providers and 1 ATM network provider.

6. DPSS Agenda for 2026-27

• DPIP Phase II: AI/ML-based risk-scoring platform, targeted for completion during 2026-27.

• Explore frictions in digital payment processes to address authorised push payment fraud and improve fund recovery, despite safeguards such as AFA, payee-name lookup, card controls and tokenisation.

• Explore switch on/off facility across all digital payment modes, extending customer control beyond cards.

• Explore direct RTGS and NEFT access for more categories of entities to reduce settlement risk and transaction timelines through central-bank-money settlement.

• Deepen digital payments in rural and semi-urban areas, focusing on last-mile connectivity and inclusion.

• Expand UPI linkages with strategic partner FPS jurisdictions for cross-border remittances and merchant payments, under Utkarsh 2029.

7. Department of Information Technology (DIT)

DIT focused on smooth operation of RBI IT systems, modernising payment systems, strengthening digital infrastructure and cybersecurity resilience. A key initiative was the exclusive '.bank.in' domain for Indian banks to strengthen cybersecurity and reduce digital-payment fraud. RBI received the 'Initiative of the Year 2026' award from Central Banking, London, UK, for this effort.

2025-26 agenda: Phase I of the Indian Financial Sector (IFS) Cloud with IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, CaaS, STaaS and IPaaS, followed by Phase II advanced services including API management, application performance management, availability zones and DevSecOps; e-Kuber 3.0 modules for primary auction, public debt management, Central Accounts Section and CFL; alternate payment and messaging systems; and '.bank.in' registration with IDRBT as exclusive registrar.

Implementation: IFS Cloud beta went live and 9 entities were onboarded; Phase I was at an advanced stage. CFL module of e-Kuber 3.0 was completed, while primary auction, public debt management and Central Accounts Section modules remained under development. RBI developed an in-house alternate payment and messaging system; the Global SFMS Hub for cross-border messaging was completed, while the domestic messaging system was under development using ISO 20022.

'.bank.in' migration: banks were advised to complete migration by October 31, 2025. By March 2026, all public sector, private sector, small and local area banks had migrated their corporate websites; foreign and cooperative banks were still migrating.

8. Major DIT Initiatives

• NGRTGS upgraded from version 3.0 to 4.0, with richer web interface, better performance and security, plus integrated partitioning and data archival.

• NEFT has been ISO 20022 compliant since 2023. More than 230 member banks migrated through a converter solution; during 2025-26 all member banks completed migration of CBS/middleware to ISO 20022, enabling direct end-to-end ISO messaging.

• CTS continuous clearing/on-realisation settlement went live October 4, 2025; cheque cycle reduced from T+1 to a few hours.

• At Chennai RO, a service branch was established to centralise inward clearing operations, replacing the earlier separate infrastructure.

• A functionality was developed to automate availing of standing liquidity facility by standalone primary dealers.

• Second Greenfield Data Centre and Enterprise Computing and Cyber Security Training Institute construction was completed and statutory approvals were in place.

9. DIT Agenda for 2026-27

• Operationalise next-generation Core Banking Solution, e-Kuber 3.0, with government-account modules migrating from e-Kuber 2.0 in phases, under Utkarsh 2029.

• Develop a common bank-wide enterprise platform, with e-Kuber 3.0 as the core platform and phased migration of applications; new applications to use core-platform functional requirements.

• Implement recommendations of the Working Group on data sharing between RBI and State Governments, constituted as part of the 34th Conference of State Finance Secretaries.

• Operationalise Global SFMS Hub, an ISO 20022 cross-border messaging system to support INR internationalisation and local-currency cross-border payments; bilateral UAE collaboration is underway.

• Develop and operationalise the in-house Alternate Payment System under Utkarsh 2029, reducing external dependencies and covering existing centralised-payment functionalities plus advanced capabilities.

• Build an institution-grade, scalable, interoperable and secure AI platform with specialised large and small language models for central-banking functions, under Utkarsh 2029.

• Develop a unified workflow portal by consolidating siloed web-facing and internal applications, improving user experience, authentication, data integration and process efficiency.

• Extend the exclusive '.fin.in' domain to non-bank financial-sector entities to strengthen trust and combat digital fraud.

10. Reserve Bank Information Technology Private Ltd. (ReBIT)

ReBIT expanded to over 1,200 professionals. In September 2025 it published three global standards/best-practices handbooks covering enterprise architecture, AI/ML and cybersecurity.

ReBIT designed, developed and deployed the RBI enterprise platform and worked on PRAVAAH, Samanvay, and the DICGC website with an AI-enabled FAQ chatbot. Cybersecurity work included advanced threat-hunting platforms at RBI security operations centres and secure software development lifecycle practices. It also supported IT/cybersecurity examinations, thematic examinations, spot assessments, compliance evaluations and system audits of regulated entities.

2026-27: support e-Kuber 3.0, additional applications on the enterprise platform and computerisation initiatives, with emphasis on technological resilience, consolidation and IT modernisation.

11. Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services (IFTAS)

IFTAS supported digital transformation, payment-system strengthening and technological modernisation, with focus on secure, scalable and future-ready financial-sector infrastructure.

• Communication network: INFINET 2.0 → 3.0 and INTERNET 1.0 → 2.0, using SD-WAN technology for enhanced security, technology, bandwidth and service delivery.

• Alternate Payment System: development commenced, integrating NEFT, RTGS and SFMS; functional/performance testing underway.

• Global SFMS Hub: ISO 20022-compliant cross-border messaging platform, under closed-user-group testing with Indian member banks and designated foreign central banks.

• Foreign Currency Settlement System (FCSS): launched in October 2025 for near-real-time foreign-currency settlement in GIFT-IFSC, with IFTAS as technology partner for CCIL IFSC Limited.

• IFS Cloud: IFTAS entrusted with building secure, cost-effective cloud services addressing technology adoption, governance and data-localisation issues. Phase I initiated; beta MVP launched and 9 entities onboarded.

2026-27: implement Phase I of IFS Cloud, initiate Phase II advanced capabilities, and work with RBI on launch of the Alternate Payment System and Global SFMS Hub.

12. Overall Conclusion

The 2025-26 agenda strengthened digital-payment adoption, accessibility, global outreach, fraud controls, payment-system resilience and ICT security. The forward agenda centres on reducing settlement risk, faster payments, e-Kuber 3.0, an institution-grade AI platform, alternate payment infrastructure, cloud and enterprise-platform modernisation, and extending the exclusive financial-sector domain.

 

PART 2: IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Topic	Figure	Meaning / exam point
Cashless/total payments volume growth	26.8%	2025-26; previous year 34.8%
Cashless/total payments value growth	13.2%	2025-26; previous year 17.3%
RTGS volume/value growth	15.7% / 12.9%	2025-26
Retail payments volume/value growth	26.8% / 14.0%	2025-26
UPI share	Nearly 86%	Share of retail payment transactions
UPI growth	30.0% volume; 20.6% value	2025-26
Digital-payment survey	>30,000 users; 10,000 merchants	Nationwide survey
Digital adoption	52% users	Users adopting digital payments
Merchant acceptance	67%	Merchants accepting digital payments
DPSS authorisations	23 PAs; 4 PPI issuers; 1 IMNB operator	During 2025-26
Non-bank PPI issuers	50	Authorised PSOs at end-March 2026
Non-bank Payment Aggregators	68	Authorised at end-March 2026
PSO onsite inspections	90	Under Section 16, PSS Act, 2007
Smart Registry	Operational since August 2025	First phase of DPIP prototype
PRB	May 9, 2025	Replaced BPSS
First PRB meeting	January 5, 2026	Mumbai
CTS Phase 1	October 4, 2025	Continuous clearing/on-realisation settlement
CTS cycle	T+1 → a few hours	Cheque clearing cycle
'.bank.in' migration deadline	October 31, 2025	Banks advised to complete migration
IFS Cloud onboarding	9 entities	Beta phase/MVP
ReBIT strength	>1,200 professionals	During 2025-26
NEFT ISO 20022	>230 member banks	Migration through converter; all member banks later migrated CBS/middleware
FCSS	October 2025	Near-real-time FX settlement in GIFT-IFSC

 

Payment System Annual Turnover, 2025-26

System	Volume, lakh	Value, ₹ lakh crore
CCIL operated systems	57	3,670.1
RTGS	3,500	2,273.7
Credit transfers	26,18,738	919.4
Debit transfers/direct debits	23,471	27.0
Card payments	73,040	28.1
PPI	98,699	2.9
Paper instruments	5,588	71.5
Total retail payments	28,19,536	1,048.8
Total payments	28,23,036	3,322.5
Total digital payments	28,17,448	3,251.0

 

PART 3: IMPORTANT DATES

Date / Year	Event
2001	Payments Vision documents begin periodic publication.
February 2023	UPI-PayNow bilateral FPS linkage operational for real-time cross-border personal remittances.
2023	NEFT became ISO 20022 compliant; member banks migrated through converter solution.
August 2025	Smart Registry, first phase of DPIP prototype, operational.
September 10, 2025	Indian Currency Microsite date is not relevant to this chapter; omitted.
September 15, 2025	Master Direction on Regulation of Payment Aggregator cited in the chapter.
October 4, 2025	CTS Phase 1 continuous clearing/on-realisation settlement went live.
October 29, 2025	Draft circular on frictions in timely credit to accounts issued for consultation.
October 31, 2025	Deadline advised for banks to migrate existing domains to '.bank.in'.
October 2025	FCSS launched in GIFT-IFSC.
May 9, 2025	Payments Regulatory Board replaced BPSS; amendments to Section 3 of PSS Act took effect.
January 5, 2026	First meeting of PRB, Mumbai.
March 27, 2026	Payments Vision 2028 issued.
April 9, 2026	Final circular issued after consultation on timely credit/account frictions.
March 2026	All PSBs, private banks, small banks and local area banks had migrated corporate websites to '.bank.in'; foreign/co-operative bank migration ongoing.

 

Source note: The chapter also states that Payments Vision documents were released in 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2022 and 2025.

 

PART 4: IMPORTANT RBI / GOI / OTHER INITIATIVES

Initiative	Organisation	Purpose / key fact
Payments Vision 2028	RBI	Roadmap for digital payments up to December 2028; issued March 27, 2026.
Digital Payment Intelligence Platform, DPIP	RBI	Fraud-risk intelligence; Smart Registry operational since August 2025; Phase II AI/ML risk scoring planned.
Survey on Usage of Digital Payments	RBI	Nationwide evidence on adoption, preferences and merchant acceptance.
Payment Aggregator Master Direction	RBI	Rationalised PA categories; enhanced merchant due diligence; covers online, physical and cross-border aggregation.
CTS continuous clearing	RBI	Continuous processing and settlement on realisation; Phase 1 live October 4, 2025.
Payments Regulatory Board	GoI/RBI framework	Replaced BPSS effective May 9, 2025 under amended PSS Act framework.
UPI-PayNow	RBI/NIPL & Singapore partners	Real-time cross-border personal remittances; operational since February 2023.
Project Nexus	International collaboration	Multilateral FPS linkage for cross-border remittances; ongoing.
'.bank.in'	RBI/IDRBT	Exclusive domain for Indian banks; IDRBT as exclusive registrar.
NGRTGS 4.0	RBI/DIT	Upgraded from version 3.0; richer UI, better performance/security, archival/partitioning.
NEFT ISO 20022	RBI/DIT	All member banks completed CBS/middleware migration for direct end-to-end ISO messaging.
e-Kuber 3.0	RBI/DIT	Next-generation core banking solution; government-account modules and other functionalities under phased development.
Alternate Payment System	RBI/DIT/IFTAS	In-house alternative integrating existing payment/messaging functionalities; reduces external dependency.
Global SFMS Hub	RBI/IFTAS	ISO 20022 cross-border messaging; supports INR internationalisation/local-currency payments.
IFS Cloud	RBI/IFTAS	Secure, cost-effective cloud platform; beta MVP launched and 9 entities onboarded.
AI platform	RBI/DIT	Institution-grade secure and scalable backbone for specialised central-banking AI applications.
FCSS	IFTAS/CCIL IFSC	Near-real-time foreign-currency settlement in GIFT-IFSC; launched October 2025.

 

PART 5: KEY DEFINITIONS / CONCEPTS

Term	Meaning / exam point
RTGS	Real Time Gross Settlement, large-value credit-transfer system.
UPI	Unified Payments Interface; largest share of retail payment transactions in the chapter.
DPIP	Digital Payment Intelligence Platform, intended to strengthen safeguards against digital payment fraud.
Smart Registry	First phase of DPIP prototype; operational since August 2025.
PSS Act, 2007	Payment and Settlement Systems Act governing payment systems; Section 16 was used for PSO onsite inspections.
PRB	Payments Regulatory Board; replaced erstwhile BPSS effective May 9, 2025.
BPSS	Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems, erstwhile committee of RBI Central Board.
PSO	Payment System Operator, includes entities such as PPI issuers, PAs, TReDS platforms, card/ATM networks and others listed by RBI.
CTS	Cheque Truncation System; continuous clearing/on-realisation settlement introduced in Phase 1 from October 4, 2025.
AFA	Additional Factor of Authentication, relevant to digital-payment authentication and cross-border card-not-present transactions.
NGRTGS	Next Generation Real Time Gross Settlement.
ISO 20022	Global messaging standard used for NEFT migration and Global SFMS Hub.
SFMS	Structured Financial Messaging System.
e-Kuber	RBI's core banking solution; e-Kuber 3.0 is the next-generation platform.
IFS Cloud	Indian Financial Sector Cloud, secure/cost-effective cloud infrastructure for the financial sector.
ReBIT	Reserve Bank Information Technology Private Ltd., RBI's technology subsidiary supporting enterprise applications and cybersecurity.
IFTAS	Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services, RBI subsidiary supporting payment systems, networks and technology modernisation.
INFINET	RBI financial-sector communication network; transition INFINET 2.0 → 3.0.
SD-WAN	Software-Defined Wide Area Network, used for enhanced security in network transition.
FCSS	Foreign Currency Settlement System, launched in October 2025 for near-real-time FX settlement in GIFT-IFSC.
GIFT-IFSC	International Financial Services Centre at GIFT City, Gujarat, where FCSS was launched.

 

PART 6: CONFUSION POINTS

Confusion	Correct distinction
Cashless/total payments vs digital payments	Chapter's footnote defines cashless transactions as total payments, including digital and paper-based instruments. Total digital payments exclude paper-based instruments.
Total retail payments vs total digital payments	Retail payments include credit/debit/direct-debit, cards, PPI and paper instruments. Total digital payments include RTGS + credit transfers + debit transfers + cards + PPI.
UPI share vs UPI growth	UPI share = nearly 86% of retail payment transactions; growth = 30% volume and 20.6% value.
RTGS growth vs retail growth	RTGS = 15.7% volume, 12.9% value; retail = 26.8% volume, 14.0% value.
Smart Registry vs DPIP	Smart Registry is the first-phase prototype of DPIP, operational since August 2025.
DPIP Phase I vs Phase II	Phase I = Smart Registry; Phase II = AI/ML-based risk-scoring platform planned for 2026-27.
BPSS vs PRB	BPSS was the erstwhile RBI Central Board committee; PRB replaced it effective May 9, 2025.
CTS old vs new	Earlier batch processing; Phase 1 from October 4, 2025 introduced continuous clearing/on-realisation settlement.
'.bank.in' vs '.fin.in'	'.bank.in' is for Indian banks; 2026-27 agenda proposes '.fin.in' for non-bank financial-sector entities.
NEFT ISO 20022 vs Global SFMS Hub	NEFT migration concerns domestic fund-transfer messaging; Global SFMS Hub is cross-border messaging infrastructure.
IFS Cloud Phase I vs Phase II	Phase I basic cloud services; Phase II advanced services such as API management, application performance management, availability zone and DevSecOps.
e-Kuber 3.0 vs Alternate Payment System	e-Kuber 3.0 is next-generation core banking; APS is an in-house alternative payment/messaging system.
UPI-PayNow vs Project Nexus	UPI-PayNow is bilateral India-Singapore linkage; Project Nexus is a multilateral FPS-linking project.
ReBIT vs IFTAS	ReBIT focuses on RBI enterprise applications, IT/cybersecurity and platform support; IFTAS focuses on payment systems, networks, cloud and technology services.
'.bank.in' migration status	By March 2026 PSBs, private, small and local area banks had migrated corporate websites; foreign and cooperative banks were still migrating.

 

PART 7: LAST-MINUTE EXAM FACTS

• Payments Vision 2028 was issued by RBI on March 27, 2026 and covers digital-payment strategy up to December 2028.

• Payments Vision documents were issued periodically from 2001; the chapter lists 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2022 and 2025.

• Total/cashless payment transaction volume grew 26.8% in 2025-26, versus 34.8% in 2024-25; value growth was 13.2% versus 17.3%.

• RTGS grew 15.7% in volume and 12.9% in value during 2025-26.

• Retail payments grew 26.8% in volume and 14.0% in value.

• UPI accounted for nearly 86% of retail payment transactions, with volume growth of 30.0% and value growth of 20.6%.

• The digital-payment survey covered more than 30,000 users and 10,000 merchants; 52% of users and 67% of merchants reported adoption/acceptance.

• RBI authorised 23 non-bank PAs, 4 non-bank PPI issuers and 1 Interoperable Mobile and Net Banking operator during 2025-26.

• Smart Registry, the first phase of the DPIP prototype, has been operational since August 2025.

• Payment Aggregator regulation brought online, physical and cross-border aggregation activities under the regulatory ambit.

• CTS Phase 1 went live on October 4, 2025; continuous clearing reduced the cycle from T+1 to a few hours.

• Payments Regulatory Board replaced BPSS effective May 9, 2025; first PRB meeting was held January 5, 2026 in Mumbai.

• UPI-PayNow has enabled real-time cross-border personal remittances between India and Singapore since February 2023.

• UPI QR-code merchant acceptance is operational in Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and UAE.

• RBI inspected 90 PSOs under Section 16 of the PSS Act, 2007 during 2025-26.

• NGRTGS was upgraded from version 3.0 to 4.0.

• NEFT has been ISO 20022 compliant since 2023; all member banks completed CBS/middleware migration during 2025-26.

• Banks were advised to complete '.bank.in' migration by October 31, 2025; by March 2026 PSBs, private, small and local area banks had migrated.

• IFS Cloud beta/MVP went live and 9 entities were onboarded.

• ReBIT expanded to over 1,200 professionals and published three global standards/best-practice handbooks in September 2025.

• IFTAS transitioned INFINET 2.0 → 3.0 and INTERNET 1.0 → 2.0 using SD-WAN.

• FCSS was launched in October 2025 in GIFT-IFSC for near-real-time foreign-currency settlement.

• 2026-27 DPSS priority includes DPIP Phase II with AI/ML risk scoring and wider digital-payment penetration in rural and semi-urban areas.

• 2026-27 DIT priority includes e-Kuber 3.0, Global SFMS Hub, alternate payment system, institution-grade AI platform and unified workflow portal.

• The 2026-27 agenda proposes extending '.fin.in' to non-bank financial-sector entities.