BML allocates over USD 45mn monthly for foreign transactions

Bank of Maldives (BML) announced today that it now provides over 45 million US dollars per month to support customers' foreign transactions made through BML cards. The bank noted that 75 percent of these transactions are related to e-commerce or online business purchases. This translates to approximately 17.3 million rufiyaa spent daily on online transactions. According to BML, one-third of this amount is spent on six specific online merchants: Temu, Shein, Alibaba, AliExpress, Lazada, and eBay.

Of these, Temu accounts for the highest share—BML currently releases seven million dollars per month for transactions on the platform, with most purchases being used for business purposes.

“These changes were introduced today to prioritize organizing the needs of the entire community on an equal basis,” BML said in a statement.

Starting tomorrow, the monthly limit for foreign goods and services payments via BML debit cards will be increased from USD 250 to USD 500. However, a 30 percent transaction fee will be applied to purchases made from the six major e-commerce sites mentioned above.

No fees will be charged for transactions related to general needs such as air tickets, hotel bookings, or subscriptions. Debit and credit cards linked to dollar accounts will also remain exempt from the new fees.

Additionally, due to concerns over non-travel-related withdrawals from foreign ATMs, BML has introduced a new limit of USD 125 per month for such withdrawals, with a USD 10 fee per transaction.

BML stated that the increase to the USD 500 limit was made without raising the existing transaction fee and emphasized that their goal is to ensure equitable access to foreign transaction services. The monthly usage limits will now be calculated from the first to the last day of each calendar month.