8 key personal finance rules to change in 2026: From credit cards, tax to gold and silver loans

The start of every year is crucial, especially since it brings numerous changes with it. In just a couple of days, we’ll enter 2026, which will bring significant changes to our personal finances, affecting our wallets substantially. 

Let’s take a look at the money changes that the new year is set to bring:

Credit and debit card changes

Many major banks, including SBI, HDFC Bank, IDFC First Bank and ICICI Bank, have announced credit card and debit card changes that will be implemented from 2026. 

The new programme will be implemented from January 10, 2026. 

⁠Gold and silver loan rules

In April 2025, the central bank issued The Reserve Bank of India issued the Reserve Bank of India (Lending Against Gold and Silver Collateral) Directions, 2025, introducing a standardised framework for gold and silver loans to ensure consumer safety. Several rules have been introduced that will come into effect from April 1, 2026. 

Some of the key rules are: 

• Lenders cannot grant loans against primary gold and silver. Loans are allowed only against ornaments, jewellery and coins.

• Loans cannot be granted against financial assets backed by silver or gold, such as gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

• Lenders cannot grant loans for the purchase of silver in any form (Exception: Scheduled Commercial Banks and Tier 3 and 4 Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) can offer working capital loans for manufacturing or industrial use).

• The maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is 85% for a loan of up to ₹2.5 lakh.

• Loans cannot be granted where the ownership of the collateral, gold or silver items, is doubtful. 

• The apex bank has issued many rules regarding the valuation, collateral management and auction of gold and silver items. Read in detail here: 

⁠SEBI MF rules 2026

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) recently approved the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 2026, which will replace the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996. The updated rules are aimed at offering enhanced clarity and structural coherence to the stakeholders. The new structure will take effect from April 1, 2026.

The key updates include a revised Expense Ratio framework, under which the Total Expense Ratio of a scheme will be the sum of BER, brokerage, regulatory levies and statutory levies.

The eligibility criteria for sponsors of Mutual Funds and Mutual Fund Lite have been simplified, and the roles and responsibilities of AMCs and Trustees have been reorganised under common thematic headings to improve clarity for the readers. 

⁠Income Tax Act 2025

• To simplify the structure of the act, the number of sections has been reduced from over 800 to 536, and chapters from 47 to 23.

• Adopting unified terminology to avoid confusion, the terms 'previous year’ and ‘assessment year’ will be replaced by a single ‘tax year’.

• Taxpayers will be allowed to claim a TDS refund even if their return of income is filed beyond the deadline.

• The new bill grants full tax exemption on the entire commuted pension for individuals receiving payments from approved pension schemes, irrespective of their employment status.

• The tax-free limit for salaried individuals has been increased to ₹12.75 lakh under the new tax regime, as there is no tax on income up to ₹12 lakh, along with a standard deduction of ₹75,000.

• New tax slabs have been introduced to lower tax liability for the middle class under the new tax regime.

• TDS limits have been updated.

• Taxpayers will get more time to file updated returns. One can file an updated (corrected) tax return until 48 months (4 years) after the assessment year.

BSBD rules 2026

Key features of the new rules include free cash deposits through any channel, free ATM or ATM-cum-debit card transactions, internet and mobile banking services, free passbook or monthly account statements, etc. 

New cheque clearing system

The cheque clearing system in India is currently undergoing a huge transformation. In August 2025, the RBI introduced its new, faster cheque clearance mechanism, under which cheques will be cleared within a few hours, instead of a few days.

Now, with continuous clearing, banks will scan and send cheques continuously during the presentation session, between 10 am and 4 pm. This means that cheques will now be cleared in (almost) real-time, a huge change from the previous system that worked on T+1 days.

The new system is to be implemented in two phases. The first phase, under which banks will confirm cheques by 7 pm, was implemented in October. 

“It has been decided to transition CTS to continuous clearing and settlement on realisation in two phases. Phase 1 shall be implemented on October 4, 2025, and Phase 2 on January 3, 2026,” the RBI said in August.

The second phase, under which banks will have to confirm (accept or reject) the cheques within 3 hours, was scheduled to be implemented from January 3, 2026. 

However, the RBI recently announced that Phase 2 has been delayed until further notice, as banks aren’t ready. Importantly, if the banks don’t confirm the cheques within the stipulated timelines, they’ll be automatically approved, as per the RBI guidelines.  

Mandatory two-factor authentication for all digital payments

While no specific factor has been mandated, the digital payments ecosystem has primarily adopted SMS-based One Time Password (OTP) as the additional factor, the RBI said in September. 

“All digital payment transactions in India are required to meet the norm of two factors of authentication. While no specific factor was mandated for authentication, the digital payments ecosystem has primarily adopted SMS-based One Time Password (OTP) as the additional factor,” the RBI said in Authentication Mechanisms for Digital Payment Transactions Directions, 2025, released on September 25. 

The key highlights of the guidelines are the uniqueness of at least one factor for each payment, liability with the issuer (payment platform or financial company) to provide full compensation to the user and reliability of the factors of authentication. Read here in detail. 

⁠New base year for inflation, GDP

According to the official announcement, the new CPI series with base year 2024=100 is scheduled to be released on February 12, 2026, while the revised national accounts series with FY 2022-23 as the base year is scheduled to be released on February 12, 2026. 

Additionally, the new IIP series with base year 2022-23 will be released on May 28, 2026.

This means that the government is updating how it measures inflation, economic growth and industrial activity to reflect the data in a better manner. While this won’t change prices, salaries or incomes, it can change how inflation and growth are reported, which can influence RBI’s policy decisions, loan rates, salary hikes and government policies in the coming years.