Diners Club cleared by RBI to resume business in India

In April 2021, Diners Club International was barred from onboarding new customers in India on account of not complying with the local data guidelines for customers in India. RBI also barred American Express from issuing new cards, and MasterCard was also banned. Now, we finally have some good news for those who want to make the switch to the Diners Club network.

Reserve Bank of India allows Diners Club International to resume business in India.

The Reserve Bank of India has sent out a retraction of the ban on Diners Club International on November 9, 2021. The RBI has given Diners Club International to resume the onboarding of fresh domestic customers in India with immediate effect.

This does not mean that Diners Club and HDFC Bank are ready and will start to issue credit cards again tomorrow, but this means that both of them can go ahead and plan a new card product and launch it sometime soon. Also, they should be resuming the issuance of upgrades and other credit cards in the days ahead.

This is overall good news for HDFC Bank. HDFC Bank had planned an Emirates co-brand card on the Diners Club network which might be pulled off the ice now, since, with the MasterCard ban, HDFC Bank will find one of its other exclusive products, the IndiGo co-brand cards, not being issued much unless the Bank switches it over to the Visa network. This is a good thing for HDFC Bank, and I’d expect a more aggressive push into the market in the coming times from their end.

Bottomline

Expect to hear more from HDFC Bank in the coming days as the Bank starts to issue Diners Club credit cards again. They are cleared to issue DCB credit cards by the RBI after a lengthy ban and an unprecedented one.

What do you make of the Diners Club International credit card news and what do you expect from the HDFC Bank in the coming days?


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About Ajay

Ajay Awtaney is the Founder and Editor of Live From A Lounge (LFAL), a pioneering digital platform renowned for publishing news and views about aviation, hotels, passenger experience, loyalty programs, travel trends and frequent travel tips for the Global Indian. He is considered the Indian authority on business travel, luxury travel, frequent flyer miles, loyalty credit cards and travel for Indians around the globe. Ajay is a frequent contributor and commentator on the media as well, including ET Now, BBC, CNBC TV18, NDTV, Conde Nast Traveller and many other outlets.

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Comments

  1. Recently I came to know that HDFC is offering free upgrade of LTF DCB to Alumni of premium institutes like IITs and IIMs. How can I apply for that?

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