The Bank of Maldives (BML) has decided to suspend the issuance of Vaaru cards to businesses.
BML stated that it replace the Vaaru card with the Mastercard Business Debit card. The bank stated that the Mastercard Business Debit card can be used for all payments to the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) as well as to other merchants accepting Mastercard. The issuance and acceptance of Vaaru Cards will be discontinued from May 5.
BML stated this will also make it easier for businesses as Vaaru cards only handled tax-related transactions by businesses. However, the MasterCard Business Debit Card can also be used for other business transactions. The card can be used easily from anywhere in the world and withdraw USD1,600 from ATMs per day, according to BML.