Maldives to Adopt India's RuPay Card Payment Network

Minister Saeed announced that the card would be officially used for transactions in rupees within Maldives. “We are currently in discussions with India to explore options for facilitating payments in rupees,” he mentioned.

RuPay, launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has been in operation for seven years, providing specialized cards for various demographics.

The card is accepted in many countries worldwide, with the Indian government leading efforts to facilitate rupee-based transactions with specific regional partners. Last year, RBI collaborated with the UAE to enable payments through the rupee.

In another development, Bank of Maldives has introduced Weixin Pay, also known as WeChat Pay in international markets, as a payment method on its Point-of-Sale (POS) terminal network. This allows merchants to accept QR payments from the popular Chinese app.