Maldives launches India’s RuPay service

Maldives has launched India’s RuPay service in a move aimed at bolstering the Maldivian Rufiyaa.

A product of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the RuPay card is a first-of-its-kind global card payment network in India, with wide acceptance at ATMs, POS devices, and e-commerce websites across India. It facilitates electronic payments at almost all Indian banks and financial institutions.

The card service was launched in ceremony held on Monday afternoon following bilateral talks in New Delhi between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Maldivian President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.

The first transaction made using the RuPay card was a purchase made from Authentic Maldives.

BML and NPCI had signed a Memorandum of Understanding to introduce RuPay cards in the Maldives back in 2019.

With the introduction of the service, RuPay card has been added as an accepted card scheme in BML’s network.

In a joint press statement after the talks, President Muizzu said that the introduction of RuPay service will improve financial accessibility.

Meanwhile, PM Modi said that work will also be done to connect India and Maldives with Unified Payments Interface (UPI) - an Indian instant payment system that facilitates inter-bank peer-to-peer and person-to-merchant transactions.

Maldives and India signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding introducing the NPCI’s UPI system in the Maldives during Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar’s visit to Male’ in August. Jaishankar said at the time that the UPI had revolutionized digital transactions in India, and would immensely benefit the Maldivian economy, especially its tourism sector.