Domestic Visa card transactions must be settled in MVR starting April 15

Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has announced that starting April 15, domestic transactions made using Visa cards issued by banks that operate in Maldives must be settled in Maldivian Rufiyaa.

With the change, all merchant outlets in Maldives need to accept payments for goods and services from customers via Visa card issued by a bank in Maldives only in Maldivian Rufiyaa.

MMA said the change with lessen the dependency of banks on US dollars to settle card transactions.

Visa introduced national net settlement service in Maldives last year, facilitating the settlement of domestic Visa card transactions in Maldivian Rufiyaa.

Previously, service providers needed to settle Visa card transactions in US dollar, even though the transaction itself may be in Maldivian Rufiyaa.

The change is in effect only for Visa card transactions.