RBI Wins Central Banking Award for .bank.in Initiative

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been honored with the 'Initiative of the Year' award at the 13th annual Central Banking Awards by London (United Kingdom, UK)-based 'Central Banking'.

This award was given to RBI for its innovative '.bank.in' domain launch initiative, which is designed to tackle the rising cyber fraud in the digital financial ecosystem.

The Central Bank of Colombia received recognition for its federated retail payment system ‘Bre-B’, while the National Bank of Ethiopia received an award for the development of wholesale payment services and the Bank of Namibia received an award for its artificial intelligence initiative.

This change increases customer trust, helps reduce fraud in digital payments, and strengthens financial stability. According to an official statement, it has been implemented with the participation of multiple stakeholders, including the Government of India, NIXI, IDRBT and banks.

About the '.bank.in' domain:

This domain, which was launched in February, 2025, has been designed based on exclusive rights and strict controls; it can be used only by banks licensed by RBI.

With the launch of this domain, India has become the first country in the world to mandate a secure and exclusive internet domain for the banking system.

RBI had appointed the 'Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology' (IDRBT) as the sole registrar to launch this domain.

It was made mandatory for banks to migrate their net banking websites to this domain by 31 October, 2025.

History of the Reserve Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India is the central bank of the country. The Reserve Bank of India was established on the basis of the recommendations of the Hilton Young Commission.

The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (II of 1934) provides the legal basis for the functioning of the bank, which started its operations on 1 April, 1935.

Sir Osborne Smith became the first Governor of the bank. On 11 August, 1943 Sir C. D. Deshmukh took over as Governor. On 1 July, 1949 Sir Benegal Rama Rau took over as Governor.

The existing currency offices in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Rangoon, Karachi, Lahore and Kanpur became branches of the Issue Department. Offices of the Banking Department were established in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Delhi and Rangoon.

Burma (Myanmar) separated from the Indian Union in 1937, but the Reserve Bank continued to act as the central bank for Burma until the Japanese occupation and later until April, 1947.

After the partition of India, the Reserve Bank continued to act as the central bank for Pakistan until June, 1948, when the State Bank of Pakistan started functioning. The bank, which was initially established as a shareholders' bank, was nationalized in 1949.