Bank of Maldives (BML) has provided a three-month period for students studying abroad who use their parents' cards in the Maldives to obtain their own Student Cards.
Regarding the changes brought to the dollar limits sold by BML for Maldivian MVR debit cards, the bank stated today that these changes will not affect the limits specifically issued for students studying abroad and those living overseas.
BML also noted that a three-month grace period has been granted to students abroad who utilize cards belonging to their parents in the Maldives to arrange for Student Cards, and during this period, the use of parents' cards will be permitted.
According to BML, changes had to be made to the way MVR cards can be used for international e-commerce and online retail sites because the number of tourists arriving in the Maldives has decreased due to the situation in the Middle East, resulting in the bank having to sell a disproportionately large amount of dollars to complete such transactions compared to the amount of foreign currency the bank is able to purchase.
While the bank has already been selling USD 1.33 million daily for transactions made through cards issued to Maldivian MVR accounts, BML stated that, considering the difficulties in acquiring dollars, it has further strengthened the systems it uses to provide foreign currency for the essential needs of the public.
BML stated that the amount the bank sells daily for shopping on specific e-commerce sites is being sold within a set daily budget. Once that budget is exhausted, the bank said that transactions cannot be made from the Maldives on those websites (certain retail sites) for that day.
The bank stated that access to other sites would not be interrupted and that customers are already being informed of this through notifications sent via the BML app. However, BML said that cards issued to dollar accounts can be used for transactions without any limits.
BML noted that while facilitating many such e-commerce transactions by customers would increase the bank's income, it was forced to take these measures to economize foreign currency for essential needs, based on the current level of foreign currency income and the amount of dollars the bank must sell for customer requirements.
BML also said that changes will be made to the limits set for foreign currency transactions via MVR cards based on the amount of dollars the bank is able to acquire.
Last week, to resolve the issue of people traveling abroad with cards belonging to individuals who have not left the Maldives, BML, in collaboration with Maldives Immigration, arranged for the "foreign spend limit" used at POS and ATMs abroad to be active only while the cardholder is actually overseas.
To address the issue of some individuals using MVR cards issued for personal use to purchase goods from certain online shopping sites in very large quantities for business purposes, BML has also set the number of e-commerce transactions allowed per customer at 30 per month.
