Bank of Maldives Denies Rumours of New E-commerce Transaction Fees

The Bank of Maldives (BML) has officially denied claims that it has introduced new fees for e-commerce transactions, urging customers to disregard rumors circulating on social media. The bank's clarification comes after social media posts alleged that extra charges were being applied to online debit card transactions across various e-commerce platforms. BML asserted that no new fees have been implemented since July 1 last year. BML spokesperson Mohamed Saeed explained that the only specific e-commerce fees currently in place are the 30 percent charges applied to MVR debit card transactions for specific platforms, including Temu, Shein, Alibaba, AliExpress, Lazada, and eBay. He dismissed claims that fees had been discreetly increased for essential sectors such as healthcare, education, and transport as entirely baseless. To provide further clarity, Saeed noted that a cross-border fee of up to 30 percent may apply to foreign transactions. However, he emphasized that this is a standard global banking practice and is already detailed in the bank's official schedule of charges, rather than being a newly introduced cost. The bank warned that the spread of such misinformation could damage its institutional credibility and potentially pose risks to broader financial stability. BML has advised its customers to ignore unverified information and rely exclusively on official announcements for accurate updates regarding banking fees and services.