Maldives plans to launch India’s RuPay service amid growing ties between the two countries. However, the release date is yet to be announced.
“We are currently in discussions with India to explore ways to facilitate the payment of rupees,” the Maldivian minister said.
RuPay, a product of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), is the first of its global card payment network in India to be widely accepted at ATMs, POS devices and e-commerce websites across India.
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Saeed said the move is likely to help Male save nearly 50% of its $1.5 million annual import bill from the two countries.
In July 2023, the Government of India announced that the Maldives was among 22 countries allowed by the Reserve Bank of India to open Special Vostro Rupee Accounts (SRVAs) as Part of efforts to promote bilateral trade in local currencies.
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Over the past few years, several banks and payment companies from various countries have tied up with NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), the international arm of NPCI, to accept UPI and RuPay in one form or the other.
In August 2022, the then President of the Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, said: “The two leaders welcomed the ongoing work to operationalize the use of Rupay cards in the Maldives and agreed to consider further measures to promote bilateral travel and tourism and economic ties.”
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On Wednesday, the Maldives said both India and China had agreed to cooperate in efforts to pay for imports in their countries’ currencies instead of the US dollar. Saeed said he met Indian High Commissioner Munu Mahawar two weeks ago, who in turn said New Delhi would support and cooperate in arranging the settlement of import payments in Indian rupees.
