The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has decided to postpone the action plan on reducing the usage of cheques.
In a press release, MMA stated that the relevant authorities have not yet made adequate preparations and therefore the authority will be postponing the implementation of the action plan to April 1.
The purpose of the action plan is to improve the payment system in the Maldives by reducing the usage of cheques and physical cash and implementing digital payment methods. MMA finalised the formulation of the action plan in coordination with banks in 2021 and decided to implement the plan in 2023, during which it will work on maximising convenient and accessible alternative digital solutions to all customers, imposing a value ceiling on cheques nationwide to USD3,000, and reducing cheque clearing frequency to twice a week.
The work also includes migrating all the inter-bank account transfers processed via an automated clearing house (ACH) to an instant payments system (IPS) and introducing fees on cheque transactions, and reducing the frequency of cheque clearing to once a week.