Bank of Maldives (BML) stated today that over 70 e-commerce transactions per second are taking place on sites where e-commerce transactions are most frequent, such as Temu, Alibaba, Apple, and Amazon.
To maintain the foreign currency liquidity of the BML, daily limits have been established for using rufiyaa cards for international e-commerce transactions.
Accordingly, the BML e-commerce limit on international e-commerce platforms resets daily at 7:00 AM.
BML spokesperson Mohamed Saeed stated today that, following customers' requests to disclose the reset time, many customers now keep items they wish to purchase loaded in their carts and ready. Consequently, these transactions are completed and the daily limits allocated for the category of these sites are exhausted within a short moment.
While purchases are being made from over 40,000 e-commerce sites worldwide using BML cards, an average of over 20,000 transactions are currently being conducted daily, he stated.
"The amount allocated for sites with the highest demand is exhausted shortly after the limit resets because more than 70 transactions per second are taking place within the bank's system," Saeed stated.
In situations where transactions cannot be made because the daily limit on such platforms is exhausted, the customer is immediately notified and instructed to use a dollar card or try again the following day.
Additionally, Saeed noted that after limits were set in this manner, it was observed that other categories such as travel and essential subscriptions still retained balances from their allocated dollar limits by the end of the day.
"This is something where limits remain available throughout the day for important everyday needs," Saeed stated.
Although this change has been implemented by categorizing up to a total of 16 million dollars per month, BML has stated that Maldivians traveling abroad, students studying abroad, and Maldivians living abroad will be able to use their limits abroad without any difficulty.
Reasons for Setting Daily Limits
Due to the high demand for dollars required to complete these transactions, the bank managed its foreign currency liquidity sustainably and prioritized disclosing precise daily amounts allocated to various categories under a transparent and robust policy, enabling customers to plan ahead.
Under this policy, a total of up to USD 16 million per month has been allocated for international e-commerce purchases using rufiyaa cards. That is:
- Most frequently used e-commerce platforms (approx. 150 sites such as Temu, Alibaba, Apple, Amazon): USD 3 million (approx. USD 100,000 per day)
- Social media platforms (platforms such as Meta, TikTok): USD 1.5 million (approx. USD 50,000 per day)
- Travel and hotel bookings: USD 6 million (approx. USD 200,000 per day)
- Essential subscriptions and vital services: USD 3 million (approx. USD 100,000 per day)
- All other online businesses: USD 1.8 million (approx. USD 60,000 per day)
- Health and educational services: A special buffer has been established to ensure payments can be made at all times without any limits.
From January to August of this year, alongside e-commerce and other card transactions, the bank has spent an average of USD 38 million per month.
The bank stated that allocating a total of USD 81 million per month across all sectors, along with a separate fund specifically for medical and educational purposes, was intended to ensure that payments for such essential services can be made without any difficulty in any situation.
BML has stated that it will continue to review these amounts based on how transactions circulate through the bank, changes in customer needs, and the amount of foreign currency received by the bank.
