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Friday 17 Apr 2026
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) has opened a special branch for its retail customers. (Photo/MIB)
In 2025, Maldives Islamic Bank’s total assets surpassed USD 1Billion crossing a major milestone. For a bank that opened its doors barely fifteen years ago as the pioneer of Islamic Banking in the Maldives, this achievement carries a significance beyond just numbers. MIB did not simply build a bank; it introduced an entirely new model of banking to the country and proved that Shariah-compliant Banking could compete and succeed in the mainstream.
What began as a niche proposition the country’s first and only dedicated Islamic Bank, operating in a market long dominated by conventional institutions has become a mainstream financial pillar. Today, MIB serves over 200,000 customers, finances tourism infrastructure, and generates profits that have more than tripled in three years. This growth in every measurable dimension is evidence that Islamic Banking in the Maldives is no longer just an alternative. It is a choice made by nearly one in five depositors in the country.
As the trajectory captured by the table below, every major indicator moved in the same direction simultaneously, a rarity for any bank growing at this pace, and particularly notable for one that concurrently improved its asset quality.
The standout is not any single metric. It is that profitability tripled while assets nearly tripled, deposits more than doubled, and the ratio of troubled financing halved. Banks that grow this fast typically sacrifice quality somewhere. MIB did not.
Several factors underpin this simultaneous improvement. Operating income more than doubled to MVR 897 million, driven not just by a larger financing book but by a deliberate diversification of revenue streams; Net fee and commission income alone grew over 300%. At the same time, cost discipline continued: the cost-to-income ratio improved even as the bank invested heavily in technology, branch expansion, and people. The result is a business that earns more from each rufiyaa of assets, serves more customers per staff member, and retains more of what it earns.
Perhaps most telling is the trajectory of return on equity from 16.8% to 28.4% over the period. This means the bank is generating substantially more profit from each unit of shareholder capital, a sign that growth has been productive rather than merely expansive. For context, ROE above 25% places MIB among the rank of better-performing banks.
“Our primary thinking was never about catching up to the market leader but wanting to pull away from the cluster of other banks to create a competitive gap”
The Maldives banking sector comprises of eight licensed institutions. The Bank of Maldives with its 44-year-old history has dominated, holding over half of total system assets. The remaining seven banks — including foreign branches of SBI, HSBC, Bank of Ceylon, HBL, MCB, and the locally incorporated CBM — shared the other half in a tightly clustered pack. MIB was part of that pack as recently as 2020.
Five years later, MIB has pulled decisively clear. By total assets, MIB has overtaken SBI and every other institution to become the second-largest bank in the country. By customer deposits, MIB achieved this position even earlier — surpassing SBI around 2023 and holding a commanding lead since. The composite below illustrates the full trajectory.
MIB’s estimated share of total banking system assets has grown from approximately 7% to 16%, while its share of customer deposits has nearly tripled from roughly 7% to 19%. No other bank outside BML recorded meaningful growth over the same period — the foreign branches and smaller institutions have remained essentially flat.
Customer deposits grew from MVR 5.14 billion to MVR 13 billion over three years; a 165% increase. In plain terms, the people and institutions of the Maldives entrusted more than double the money with MIB compared to three years ago. The customer base itself doubled, from roughly 100,000 accounts to more than 200,000.
Retail deposits remain in the largest segment, accounting for nearly half of the total deposit base. This growth was powered by a systematic expansion of physical and digital reach. The ATM and ECRM network grew from 15 units across 6 atolls to 51 units across 12 atolls in the past three years. Seven new sales centers have opened alongside the existing six branches.
On the digital front, MIB remains the only bank in the Maldives to offer fully instant online account opening for individuals — a service that allows a new customer to open an account, receive their account number, and begin transacting within minutes. This capability, integrated with the national E-Faas digital identity system through the Apply Now 2.0 platform, removed the single biggest barrier to retail deposit acquisition: the need to physically visit a branch. Citizens across the nation can open accounts, fund it, and start operating within minutes wherever they may live. The same experience is extended to foreigners with a turnaround time of 1 working day.
The composition of the deposit base has shifted materially. Corporate and institutional money, including deposits from financial institutions, state-owned enterprises, and private corporates, now account for more than half of total deposits, up from a much smaller share three years ago. This broadening reflects growing confidence from treasurers, CFOs, and institutional investors in MIB’s stability and service capability.
This shift was enabled by innovations in corporate banking infrastructure. MIB launched fully digital corporate account opening, another industry first alongside FaisaNet 2.0, an upgraded internet banking platform designed for corporate treasury operations, and Faisa Mobile X, which extended real-time transactional capability to mobile devices for business users.
The deepening of the deposit base has strengthened liquidity and reduced concentration risk, providing a solid foundation for the financing growth that followed.
Central to this achievement has been the Bank’s strategic expansion into the tourism sector, with financing growing to MVR 668 million as at 2025—representing an exceptional 385% increase from 2022. This momentum underscores MIB’s deepening presence and credibility within the hospitality industry. In parallel, the Bank has reinforced its position as a key national partner through its support for strategically significant infrastructure projects, with exposures exceeding MVR 786 million. This reflects a strong 197% growth since 2022, highlighting MIB’s continued commitment to enabling critical national development and supporting large-scale, high-impact public sector initiatives.
In 2022, MIB was an overwhelming consumer lender. Ujaalaa personal financing and home financing dominated the book. Corporate exposure was minimal. Three years later, the picture is fundamentally different.
Corporate financing now represents 40% of the portfolio, deployed across tourism infrastructure, resort development, guesthouse expansion, asset refinancing, trade finance, and construction. This is not growth for its own sake. It represents MIB’s transformation from a retail-focused institution into a full-service bank financing the productive sectors of the Maldivian economy.
On the retail side, the financing product suite has evolved significantly. The launch of the Ujaalaa Now portal digitised the entire consumer financing application journey, enabling customers to apply, track, and manage their financing online without visiting a branch. On the product side, Ujaalaa Cash Financing has grown strongly as a flexible liquidity product, while home financing nearly doubled reflecting the real demand for housing across the atolls. These innovations, combined with the expansion of the physical network, have made access to financing faster and more equitable regardless of geography.
MIB has firmly established itself as a reliable trade finance partner, playing an essential role in supporting national economic growth through innovative and targeted financing solutions. The Bank now facilitates a significant portion of the nation’s total trade volume, underscoring its growing systemic importance within the Maldivian economy.
Trade activity has expanded significantly, with transaction volume up 60% compared to 2022, while total transaction value surged to MVR 7.6 billion, marking a 123% increase over the same period.
This growth has been closely linked to MIB’s strong focus on corporate and SME support, enabling businesses to scale operations, enhance trade capacity, and participate more actively in both domestic and international markets. Through innovative financing structures and tailored solutions, the Bank has also supported key strategic and infrastructure projects, reinforcing its role in national development.
Together, these developments position MIB not only as a leading trade finance provider, but as a critical enabler of business expansion and economic resilience in the Maldives.
Profits did not triple simply because the bank got bigger. They tripled because MIB found new ways to earn. Total operating income grew from MVR 343 million to MVR 897 million, but the composition of that income shifted materially.
Fee and commission income grew 309% from MVR 37 million to MVR 151 million. This encompasses card transaction revenues, digital banking fees, trade finance commissions, and processing charges. Three years ago, MIB earned roughly MVR 9 in every MVR 10 from financing margins. Today, non-fund-based income contributes a far larger share, creating a more resilient earnings profile.
This diversification matters because it means MIB’s profitability is less dependent on the profit rate cycle. If financing yields compress, the fee income base provides a meaningful buffer, a structural improvement in the quality of earnings, not just the quantity.
The number that separates sustainable growth from reckless expansion is asset quality. Fast-growing banks almost universally see their non-performing ratios rise as they push into new segments. MIB’s moved in the opposite direction.
The non-performing advances ratio fell from 4.59% in 2022 to 2.97% in 2025, a 35.3% decline, even as the financing book nearly tripled. In practical terms, for every MVR 100 that MIB has financed, less than MVR 3 is in difficulty today, compared to nearly MVR 6 three years ago.
Capital adequacy remained comfortable throughout. The Tier 1 ratio stood at 11.3% and the total capital adequacy ratio at 16.2%, both well above the regulatory minimums set by the Maldives Monetary Authority. Equity grew from MVR 647 million to MVR 1.52 billion, more than doubling, providing a strong buffer against potential risks while supporting continued growth.
This combination of rapid growth with improving asset quality and strong capitalization is the hardest balance to strike in banking. It shows that MIB’s credit underwriting framework has tightened even as the bank expanded its reach.
Numbers on a balance sheet ultimately depend on whether customers can actually access the bank. In a country of 1,200 islands spread across 20 atolls, physical reach is not a convenience, it is the difference between financial inclusion and exclusion.
Beyond the physical expansion, MIB launched Faisa Wear—contactless payment rings and tags that marked the first deployment of wearable payment technology. With an expanding wireless POS network supported with an Internet Payment Gateway that supports major acquiring of VISA and MasterCard the Bank provides payment services to merchants across the nation.
The cumulative effect is a bank that is accessible around the clock, across the country, through whichever channel the customer prefers. The more than 200,000 accounts are not just a number, they represent people and businesses who can now transact, save, and finance without the constraints that geography once imposed.
MIB’s share price rose from MVR 35.10 in 2022 to MVR 102.88 in 2025, a 193% appreciation. Return on equity improved from 16.8% to 28.4%, meaning the bank is generating substantially more profit from each rufiyaa of shareholder capital. The dividend yield stood at 5.3% with a payout ratio of 35%, reflecting a deliberate balance between rewarding investors today and retaining earnings to fund future growth.
Return on assets improved from 2.07% to 2.64% despite the rapid balance sheet expansion indicating that new assets were deployed productively, not just accumulated. For investors, the combination of capital appreciation, yield, and improving returns on capital represents meaningful value creation over the period.
MIB’s strong performance has been recognized through a series of prestigious industry awards, reflecting its leadership across multiple banking segments. These include the Visa Commercial Solutions Excellence Award for Best Business Debit Issuer, as well as the Islamic Bank of the Decade, Islamic Finance Entity of the Year, and Islamic Bank of the Year at the 10th IFFSA Awards 2025. Further reinforcing its position in the market, the Bank also received the Best Islamic Retail Bank in Maldives 2025 and the Best Digital Banking Initiative Award in Maldives 2025 at the 11th IRBA Awards, underscoring its continued excellence in retail and digital banking innovation.
But milestones create expectations. At MVR 16.65 billion in assets and over 218,000 customers, MIB now operates at a scale where the challenges ahead are qualitatively different from those of three years ago. Maintaining asset quality as the portfolio matures, deepening the corporate and SME franchise, navigating economic dynamics, and continuing to lead on digital innovation will define the next chapter.
Fifteen years ago, MIB set out to prove that Islamic banking could work in the Maldives. That question has been answered. The billion-dollar mark is not a finish line. It is a threshold, and the more interesting question is what MIB does from here.
