New Delhi: Those who pay house rent using credit cards have suffered a major setback as the rules have been changed. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has amended credit card regulations making it impossible for you to pay house rent using credit cards. Fintech firms discontinue service Fintech firms PhonePe Paytm and Cred have also discontinued the service for credit card rental payments. It was often seen that people used apps like PhonePe and Paytm to pay rent. There were also some who used this feature to transfer money to their accounts instead of making rent payments. However this service has now been discontinued. New rule You will now be able to pay rent using credit cards only to landlords who have registered themselves as merchants with KYC. The purpose of this new RBI rule is to prevent any misuse of credit cards. Rent payments made using credit cards were rapidly increasing. Users were misusing them sending money to a loved one and then using it for other purposes earning cashback and reward points. However under the new rules credit card payments can only be made to registered businesses. This means that all unregistered landlords will be removed. KYC procedures Under the new rules payment apps will now be required to complete KYC procedures on a landlords bank account before allowing credit card payments. The guidelines state that all payment aggregators must verify customers for all merchants they partner with. This can be accomplished through a central KYC registry merchant KYC procedures or due diligence procedures. What will be the impact? Rent payments using credit cards on fintech apps will no longer be available resulting in loss of benefits like reward points and interest-free credit. Many people relied on credit cards to pay rent without immediately accessing their savings but this service has now been discontinued. Tenants will now have to make payments through other options including UPI transfers NEFT through banks RTGS or IMPS checks. HIGHLIGHTS You can no longer use your credit card as major services have been stopped after the RBI. Those who pay house rent using credit cards have suffered a major setback. The RBI has amended credit card regulations. Fintech firms PhonePe Paytm and Cred have also discontinued the service. You will now be able to pay rent using credit cards only to landlords who have registered themselves as merchants with KYC. The purpose of this new RBI rule is to prevent any misuse of credit cards.