Malé, Maldives – Parliament of Maldives has passed to allow a national payment system to be established in the country.
The bill which was sponsored by Dhihdhoo constituency parliamentarian, Abdulla Waheed on behalf of the government is set to facilitate for a national payment system to be developed and payment service quality improvement.
Maldives Monetory Authority (MMA) had signed an agreement with the subsidiary company of TietoEVRY, Tieto Latvia SIA to implement the Instant Payment System in Maldives on October 28, 2020.
The Instant Payment System implementation agreement was signed under the Maldives Payment System Development Project of MMA. MMA stated that this has been a major national-level initiative to transform the payments landscape of the Maldives.
With the successful implementation of the system, MMA has told that it would enable users to make and receive payments in real-time, irrespective of the island they live on or where they bank. This system would also facilitate the introduction of innovative payment solutions to the market by Payment Service Providers, connected via a single platform.
MMA also added that this marked a notable milestone for the Maldivians, and a significant steppingstone for the economy as a whole to capitalize on the developments in financial technology taking place around the world and facilitate the introduction of modern, digital payment solutions to the market.
Speaking at the agreement signing ceremony, Governor of Maldives Monetary Authority, Ali Hashim had said that this was an important step being taken towards the advancement of the Maldivian payments landscape, in line with those of the developed economies of the world. He also added that they expect his system to address the various challenges being faced by the Maldivians within the existing payments system.
According to MMA the Instant Payment solution of TietoEVRY is scalable and simple to configure, allowing to easily expand the product range. MMA also added that the platform is based on micro-services architecture and enables the freedom to independently develop and deploy new services.
MMA Had previously told that this project would result in the Maldivian payments infrastructure being developed and enhanced to the levels and standards set by major economies. The system is expected to go-live and be in use for domestic transactions by the last quarter of 2021.
