A key area of activity of the IDRBT right since its inception was developing and providing Technology Services to the Indian Banking and Financial Sector.

Accordingly, the Institute conceptualised, designed and launched the following technology services for the Indian Banking and Financial Sector over the years:

Sl. No.	Technology Service	Date of Launch
1.	INdian FInancial NETwork (INFINET)	June 19, 1999
2.	Structured Financial Messaging System (SFMS)	December 14, 2001
3.	National Financial Switch (NFS)	August 27, 2004
4.	Indian Banking Community Cloud (IBCC)	August 02, 2013

The above-mentioned four technology services constituted an integral part of the IDRBT’s initiatives to ensure that the best of technology is utilised by the Indian Banking and Financial Sector to provide convenient banking services to the common person. These services constituted the backbone for implementation of Information Technology in the Indian Banking and Financial Sector and enabled improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Sector in a big way. These services also played the pivotal role in facilitating and improving the electronic payment system in the country.

Given the fact that the services offered by the Institute were critical for the further development of techno-banking in the country, there was a need to provide more focused attention to these services. Accordingly, the Institute handed over the National Financial Switch (NFS) to National Payments Corporation of India in January 2010. Please visit www.npci.org.in for the latest details.

Further, the Reserve Bank of India had constituted an External Expert Review Committee (EERC), headed by Dr. C. Rangarajan, Former Governor, Reserve Bank of India, for evaluating the activities of the Institute and re-defining its role and suggesting a roadmap for the future. The EERC, which submitted its report in July 2009, recommended that “to function as a primary institute of excellence in the area of research and development in banking technology, the Institute needs to shed its function of providing various services by hiving off its services.”

Accordingly, the Institute promoted a new Section 8 company named The Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services (IFTAS), headquartered in Mumbai. The Director, IDRBT, was the first Chairman of The Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services.

The IFTAS has taken over the INdian FInancial NETwork (INFINET), Structured Financial Messaging System (SFMS) and the Indian Banking Community Cloud (IBCC) from the IDRBT, effective April 01, 2016. The IFTAS was wholly acquired by the Reserve Bank of India in March 2019. Please visit www.iftas.in for the latest details.