American Express to resume sharing card holders financial information with NeSL

American Express to resume sharing card holders financial information with NeSL

Subject: Economy

Context:American Express has written to its card holders saying that it will report financial information related to their cards to National E-Governance Services Ltd (NeSL) starting next month, a move that has irked card holders as they fear it may put their privacy at risk.

This is the second time this year that the company has informed card holders that their data will be shared with NeSL. In April 2022, American Express had issued a similar communication, but the drive was put on the back burner after many card holders voiced concerns on data privacy.

RBI regulation

As per RBI’s December 19, 2017 regulation  a financial creditor shall submit financial information and information relating to assets in relation to which any security interest has been created, to an information utility (IU) in such form and manner as may be specified by regulations.

NeSL

• NeSL was registered as the first Information Utility (IU) by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) on September 25, 2017.
• The primary role of NeSL is to serve as a repository of legal evidence holding information pertaining to any debt/claim, as submitted by the financial or operational creditor and verified and authenticated by parties to the debt.

Concerns:

Legal experts believe that sharing personal financial information related to card holders spending with any entity, including a government-registered one, is a breach of their privacy.