Online Bank Frauds are on the rise and scammers are using new techniques daily to cheat lacs of people. Scammers even build fake bank websites and send links to people to update KYC or to do any other bank work. Once people visit these fake bank websites, their account gets hacked and they lose all of their hard-earned money. The problem is that these fake websites look like the real bank websites and it’s practically impossible for a common man to identity whether the website is fake or genuine.
But Now, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken a major step to protect people from online frauds and scams related to digital payments. On Tuesday, the RBI asked all banks in the country to start shifting their websites to a new and safer domain – ‘.bank.in’. Banks must complete this change by October 31, 2025. Right now the official SBI website is – sbi.co.in. Now the SBI website will be – sbi.bank.in. The PNB website will be – pnb.bank.in. This means that all banks will have this word – ‘.bank.in’ in their websites and except banks no other person can use this word. This will help in easy identification of Fake and Original Bank Websites.
Benefits of this new domain
- Reduce cyber threats
- Prevent phishing and fake websites
- Build trust in digital banking and payment systems
- Make sure customers can safely use bank websites and online services
Who Will Handle the New Domain?
The domain ‘.bank.in’ will be managed by the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT). This organization has been authorized by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), which works under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Banks that want to register their new domain name can reach out to IDRBT at [email protected]. IDRBT will also help banks understand how to apply and move to the new domain smoothly.
Timeline for implementation
All banks have been advised to begin the migration process right away. They should not wait until the last moment. The RBI has clearly said that the entire shift must be completed by October 31, 2025.
Advise for Bank Customers
The bank customers are advised to make sure that they visit only the bank website having word ‘.bank.in’ and not any other website. This link is clearly visible in the URL tab of your browser.
The URL (link) in above image is – https://sbi.co.in/hi/web/personal-banking/home. Remember to check this link before visiting any website. Now the link will be – https://sbi.bank.in/hi/web/personal-banking/home. So Now, you can see that if the word ‘.bank.in’ is written, then it means that the bank website is original.
- Original Link: https://sbi.bank.in/hi/web/personal-banking/home ✅
- Fake Link: https://sib.co.in/hi/web/personal-banking/home ❌
