RBI Innovation Hub developing continuous KYC payments risk platform

India's Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Innovation Hub is creating a digital payments intelligence platform designed to analyze risk signals and conduct continuous Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures. Brijesh Singh, Principal Secretary for the Directorate of Information & Public Relations in Maharashtra, announced the initiative at the Global Fintech 2026 conference.

The platform intends to address challenges such as legitimate accounts later being used as "mule accounts" for illicit activities, even after initial KYC verification. Singh emphasized the need for regulators and protectors to establish a trustworthy system integrating both technology and policy.

Singh also highlighted difficulties in verifying digital evidence and establishing its provenance. He explained that digital evidence shared on platforms like WhatsApp often loses metadata and is altered, making it challenging to use in legal proceedings. This complicates accountability as criminal tactics evolve.

The potential for deepfakes to bypass real-time KYC was also discussed. Singh recounted a demonstration where an individual could impersonate others during a video call, undermining identification. He cautioned that the cost and time required for such attacks have decreased, with sophisticated models now runnable on mobile devices.

Singh advocated for cybersecurity to be treated as public infrastructure, given that fraud networks operate across telecommunication, apps, and social media. He stressed the importance of maintaining logs for all actions and the ability to pause or reverse agent actions.