Bank of Maldives (BML) has stated that information circulating on social media claiming the bank is charging a 30 percent fee on card transactions contrary to its public disclosures is false.

In a post on X, BML's Head of Branding and Marketing Strategy, Mohamed Saeed, stated that as the bank has officially disclosed previously, no fee up to 30 percent is charged on Maldivian Rufiyaa debit card transactions from any sites other than specific e-commerce platforms (Temu, Shein, Alibaba, AliExpress, Lazada, and eBay) as of July 2025.

"Therefore, the talk circulating claiming that such a fee has been secretly added for hundreds of other merchants in the healthcare, education, and travel sectors is a baseless lie with no foundation," Saeed said in the post on X.

According to him, as per the bank's 'Schedule of Charges,' a fee of up to 30 percent can be charged when using a debit card issued to a Maldivian Rufiyaa account for transactions made abroad. He also noted that charging such a cross-border fee is a practice followed by other banks worldwide.

"This is not a decision targeted at giving a concession to a specific list or group, or at providing a higher rate," Saeed said.

He further stated that considering the extent to which individuals and businesses of all levels and categories in the Maldives rely on the bank, such baseless false stories are being spread to undermine the bank's trust, disrupt the country's economic stability, and pose a direct threat to financial security and stability.

He also appealed to all of the bank's customers not to pay attention to such false information and to rely only on information disclosed through Bank of Maldives' official channels.