Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) has restricted US dollar transactions made with its debit cards on certain e-commerce websites.
In a statement, MIB said that the USD 250 limit available on its rufiyaa cards was intended for essential needs. However, in recent days, some customers have been obtaining this service and using the limit for other purposes. The bank stated that, in order to ensure the service remains available on a sustainable basis and prioritises customers’ essential needs, it has decided to prevent the use of the dollar limit on certain commercial websites for the time being.
MIB said that, following this decision, customers will be able to make a maximum of 10 transactions on e-commerce websites.
The bank added that, despite this change, the USD 250 limit can still be used for commonly used subscription services, purchases made through point-of-sale (POS) terminals outside the Maldives, healthcare-related expenses, and travel spending.
According to MIB, the decision was taken to ensure that the limit is used for customers’ most essential needs and to allow as many customers as possible to benefit from the facility.