Bank of Maldives (BML) has announced a major reduction to its Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on all BML debit cards used on BML POS terminals, in a landmark move further strengthening the bank’s support to the business community.
The change, one of several, in conjunction with the bank’s 43rd anniversary, was announced by BML via a statement on Monday.
In this regard, the bank has reduced MDR, which is the commission charged by the Bank to merchants for accepting card payments on BML POS terminals, has been reduced to 1 percent from 2.5 percent – which has remained the standard rate ever since BML introduced debit card services in 2000.
BML Debit Card Merchant Discount Rate reduced by 60% pic.twitter.com/puLKO6u4K3
— Bank of Maldives (@bankofmaldives) November 10, 2025
According to BML, over 7,000 merchants who currently use BML’s payment solutions nationwide stand to benefit from this change.
BML’s CEO, Managing Director Mohamed Shareef, citing the bank’s success is closely tied to the success of its business customers, said the bank is proud to announce meaningful measures that will make a real difference for thousands of businesses on its 43rd anniversary.
“The Bank’s success is closely tied to the success of our business customers. On our 43rd anniversary, we are proud to introduce meaningful measures that will ease costs and improve access to finance for businesses across the country. Reducing the merchant fee to 1% is a significant change that we believe will make a real difference for thousands of businesses,” he said.
Apart from this, BML has also introduced a new Advance Merchant Settlement facility to provide greater financial flexibility for its merchant partners.
This facility, provided as an unsecured merchant advance settlement, allows businesses to quickly access funds of up to MVR 2 million, based on their POS sales over the past six months with BML. Repayments are conveniently structured against future daily sales, offering merchants both flexibility and ease.
Introducing Advance Merchant Settlement Facility. pic.twitter.com/rr5KWJsmg0
— Bank of Maldives (@bankofmaldives) November 10, 2025
Alongside these business-focused measures, the Bank also announced an increase to foreign spending limits for its debit card customers to USD 3,000 per month for travel and medical purposes and USD 1,000 per month for foreign POS transactions.