The Bank of Maldives (BML) has decided to charge a fee of up to 30 percent for purchases on foreign websites where Maldivians shop most from. The change will come into effect on 1 July.
BML made the announcement in a press released on Monday announcing the increasing of USD transaction limit for BML’s MVR debit cards from USD 250 to USD 500.
In the press release, BML said it continues to see high volumes of USD transactions on MVR debit cards on selected e-commerce sites (Temu, Shein, Alibaba, AliExpress, Lazada and eBay) for business purposes. Effective 1st July 2025, a transaction fee up to 30 percent will be charged for purchases on these selected e-commerce sites.
According to BML, this transaction fee will not apply to other online foreign transactions such as hotel bookings, international flight tickets or subscriptions. Further, this transaction fee will not apply to customers using debit cards linked to USD accounts or credit cards.