Bank of Maldives (BML) is selling an average of USD 1.5 million per day, driven largely by rising demand for foreign currency linked to card payments, CEO Mohamed Shareef said last night.
Speaking at the bank’s Annual General Meeting held at Barcelo Nasandhura, Shareef said one of the biggest challenges facing BML was the surge in dollar transactions, particularly from local customers making online purchases from overseas.
"Due to the high use of cards by locals for purchases from foreign businesses over the internet, the need for dollars is increasing," he said.
"On average, we sell USD 1.5 million a day across about 45,000 transactions."
That volume equates to USD 45 million a month or USD 540 million in annual foreign currency sales.
Shareef said BML’s strong partnerships with international payment networks such as Visa, MasterCard and American Express had enabled continued support for tourism and trade, including resort and hotel businesses.
He added that the bank had expanded overseas transaction limits for key groups such as students and pilgrims. Last year, the bank raised the monthly limit for student card transactions to USD 1,200. During Ramadan, card limit was increased by USD 1,500 over the normal limit for Umrah pilgrims. With this move, their limit is now set at USD 2,000.
