Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services

At a glance

What it does

Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services runs the network and messaging layers that RBIReserve Bank of India. India's central bank. It regulates banks and payment systems, runs RTGS and NEFT, and holds the accounts in which banks settle with one another.’s payment systems depend on. IFTAS is a wholly owned subsidiary of RBI, registered under the Companies Act, 2013; it runs INFINET, SFMS, the Indian Banking Community Cloud and GIFT.^{1Reserve Bank of India. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services (IFTAS). As of 20 September 2022.}

Where its systems came from

IFTASIndian Financial Technology and Allied Services. A wholly owned subsidiary of RBI that runs INFINET, the banking sector's private network, and SFMS, the messaging system behind RTGS and NEFT. took over systems originally built at IDRBTInstitute for Development and Research in Banking Technology. A society set up by RBI in 1996 in Hyderabad for research and training in banking technology. It built INFINET, SFMS and the National Financial Switch.. IDRBT transferred INFINET, SFMS, the RTGS and NEFT systems and its banking community cloud to its subsidiary IFTAS in February 2015; IFTAS was transferred to RBI in 2019.^{2Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology. About IDRBT. As of 1 January 2025.} IDRBT launched INFINET, a closed user group network for banks, in June 1999; it now runs on MPLS.^{2Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology. About IDRBT. As of 1 January 2025.} SFMS, a secure financial messaging platform, was launched on 14 December 2001 and is used by NEFT, RTGS and delivery-versus-payment settlement of government securities.^{2Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology. About IDRBT. As of 1 January 2025.}

Why banks care

Every bank that sends RTGSReal Time Gross Settlement. RBI's system that settles each payment individually and immediately, on a gross basis, between banks. or NEFTNational Electronic Funds Transfer. RBI's account-to-account transfer system. It settles in half-hourly batches, around the clock, in banks' accounts at RBI. payments connects through this infrastructure, so its availability matters to the whole system. Smaller banks may also use its shared platform: IFTAS's Indian Banking Community Cloud provides core banking and other applications, such as SFMS and mobile banking, as web services.^{1Reserve Bank of India. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services (IFTAS). As of 20 September 2022.}

Connections

• RBI: RBI owns all of IFTAS.¹
• IDRBT: IDRBT transferred these systems to its subsidiary IFTAS in February 2015; IFTAS moved to RBI in 2019.²
• RBI: SFMS and INFINET, run by IFTAS, carry the messages of RBI-operated RTGS and NEFT.¹