Bank of Maldives (BML) on Wednesday introduced an increase in the daily cash deposit limit via their ATMs, a temporary measure intended to reduce ATM visits for its personal and business customers.
In response to the strict lockdown measures enforced by the government over the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, BML's had closed its branches and service centres and moved to provide its services over its online platforms and ATM.
According to BML, the decision to increase the daily ATM cash deposit limit was taken to mitigate challenges faced by its customers in making deposits to individuals and businesses alike during the lockdown, and reduce the frequency of visits to their ATMs over government orders to practice social distancing.
As per the change, BML's business customers can now deposit up to MVR 500,000 daily, while their personal customers can now make daily deposits up to MVR 100,000 using the bank's ATM machines. Previously, BML business customers were allowed a daily limit of MVR 200,000, while personal customers daily limit was capped at MVR 50,000.
With Malé city put on lockdown on April 15 after its first recorded case of COVID-19, Maldives Police Services (MPS) had put in place arrangements to issue online permits to facilitate individuals to go out on essential needs, including grocery runs and access to ATMs, and official duties.
In a move to support Maldivians living abroad during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, last week the bank increased withdrawal limit for BML debit cards from USD 400 to USD 1000 daily, with a reduced fee of MVR 15 charged by the card networks. Customers can also use BML debit cards at POS terminals overseas up to USD 600 daily.
Moreover, BML customers can now make international transfers via MVR accounts up to USD 500 per month without local bank charges, although foreign bank charges still apply. Customers using International Money Transfer through BML MobilePay can also make transfers up to USD 500 monthly from their digital MVR wallets.
As of now, Maldives records 86 confirmed and 70 active cases of COVID-19, with a total of 16 recoveries.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The novel coronavirus has infected over 2.5 million people and claimed over 177,600 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 690,000 people have recovered.