After years of anticipation, PayPal, one of the biggest online payment platforms has been officially introduced to Maldives by Ooredoo.

The ceremony was held at Barceló Nasandhura with President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu introducing the service to Maldives. PayPal's Regional Vice President and General Manager Amir Valiani took part in the event as well.

The current government officially began work on procuring PayPal's withdrawal service on 6th June 2024 via a letter sent by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade to the CEO of PayPal Alex Chriss.

When members of the Maldivian government visited the United States of America, they met with senior officials of PayPal with the aid of then-Secretary of State Richard Verma and submitted an official proposal. Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed also met with and held important discussions with PayPal's Global Leadership Team in August 2024.

Ooredoo Maldives was chosen to be the local partner of Maldives for PayPal when these efforts were underway. However, due to certain requirements not being met in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Compliance, the deadline of August 2025 in the introduction of the service was pushed back. Ooredoo Maldives strengthened their AML program, and brought about the changes requested by PayPal by early this year.

With all the work having been done, system testing began in May 2026, with the service scheduled to be launched today.

The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) had officially handed over an Inward Remittance License to Ooredoo in October 2025.

During the 2026 Presidential Address, President Muizzu reiterated the government's attention toward the introduction of PayPal to Maldives.

With the introduction of this service, it will facilitate a path for income internationally with ease for those in Maldives who do freelance work online and for small and medium enterprises. Ooredoo highlights this as a very important bridge between the advancement of both the digital economy and creative economy of Maldives.