Bank of Maldives has announced a series of changes to its foreign currency processes, aimed at widening access to dollars for essential public needs and limiting the use of personal foreign spend limits for business-related transactions.
The measures include changes to overseas card use, e-commerce transactions, student cards, credit card fees and telegraphic transfer processing. The bank said the steps are intended to ensure that the foreign currency it obtains is distributed more fairly among customers, particularly as demand for dollars remains high.
Under a digital partnership with Maldives Immigration, BML will be able to enable foreign spend limits specifically for card-present point-of-sale transactions conducted overseas. The bank said this would allow customers travelling abroad to continue using their cards for genuine transactions, while adding safeguards against unauthorised or abusive practices that violate international card payment network standards.
For students studying overseas who do not have their own cards and currently use a guardian’s card, BML said a student card will be issued with the applicable student foreign spend limit. Until the card is issued, the guardian’s card may be used for a period of three months.
The bank also said some individuals have been using foreign spend limits on personal cards to carry out business transactions on certain online shopping sites. According to BML, this has resulted in large amounts of dollars being sold to a limited number of parties. To address this, the bank will set a daily budget for the amount of foreign currency sold for such online transactions. It said no changes would be made at this stage to sites used for other legitimate personal purposes.
BML will also introduce a monthly limit of 30 e-commerce transactions per customer. The bank said fewer than three percent of customers currently make more than 30 such transactions per month, and that these are the same parties using selected shopping sites for business purposes.
Cards linked to dollar accounts will continue to be usable without foreign spend restrictions, subject to the dollars available in the customer’s account.
For customers holding multiple credit cards, BML said annual fees will only be charged for one credit card, as the monthly foreign spend limit is applied per customer. No additional annual fee will be charged for customers with more than one credit card.
The bank also said the sale of USD or other foreign currency support for telegraphic transfers will be processed only during bank operating hours. However, TT transfers sent in US dollars can continue to be processed 24 hours a day, including on holidays.
BML added that parties attempting to obtain large amounts of dollars by splitting TT transactions will be identified, and sales to such parties will be restricted within the imposed limits.
The changes come as access to foreign currency remains a key concern for individuals, students, businesses and travellers, with banks facing continued pressure to manage limited dollar availability while maintaining essential services.
