Hassan Kurusee@HKurusee
‼️🚨Breaking News (confirmed)
On 30 June 2025, BML announced a transaction fee of up to 30% on selected international platforms including Temu, Shein, Alibaba, AliExpress, Lazada and eBay.
The bank explicitly said that this fee would NOT apply to other online foreign transactions such as hotel bookings, international flight tickets or subscriptions.
I can now confirm that over 500 additional merchants have been added across multiple fee bands, including the new lower tiers of 15%, 10%, 6%, 5%, 4% and 3%.
These additions cover more retail outlets and websites. Every Maldivian can verify the applicable fee for each merchant by checking their BML bank statements from February 2026 to today, the charges will match perfectly.
Merchants added to the 30% fee band include:
🔹Medical and healthcare
#116, #133 Subang Jaya Medical Centre
#92 Neurogen Brain and Spine Institute
#153 Amrita Institute
#34 Centre for Kidney Diseases
#235 Kids Clinic India
#134 My Pharmacy
🔹Education
#4 British Council
#31 University of Nottingham (Malaysia Campus)
#51 Taylor’s University (Malaysia)
#107 Epsom College Malaysia
🔹AI tools
#41 Claude AI
#47 QuillBot
🔹Airlines
#36 Air India
#38 US-Bangla Airlines
🔹Retail and fashion
#159 Zara
#79 Sephora
#44, #169 Thomann
#45, #216 Pro Direct Sport
#222 Zalora
🔹Travel agencies and intermediaries
#76 BravoFly
#187 Kiwi. com
#199 TripAdvisor
#6 Klook
🔹Gaming and digital platforms
#42 PlayStation (via PayPal)
#202 Steam (via PayPal)
#241 TikTok (payments / promote) Note: Applies specifically to “PAYPAL - TIKTOK”. Other TikTok merchants are at lower rates like 4%.
In addition to the 30% band, BML has applied the following new tiers to hundreds of other merchants:
4% fee band:
🔹Multiple airline merchants including:
#321–326 AirAsia
#374–376 SriLankan Airlines
#377–380 Emirates
#381–383 Malaysia Airlines
#384–387 FlyDubai
#388–390 Malindo Airways
#391–396 Air Arabia
#352–355 Indigo Airlines
🔹They also applied a 30% to a US based business called BUDDIES COMMERCIAL LLC (see #22) which I believe is owned by a Maldivian, cause it has a Maldivian phone number printed in merchant name, so this looks like a targeted one.
🔹Another such targeted merchant which I found was Aitken Spence (Sri Lankan agent linked to @mohamedfiraq), this merchant is the only one at 15% band). Firaaq has been critising PNC a lot recently. See #278.
BML’s original announcement clearly exempted categories such as international flights, hotel bookings and subscriptions from the high fee. But the 30% fee has now been applied to several merchants in these exempted categories, including airlines and travel platforms.
Very few people have had access to this full list and the exact fee rates, including CEO Shareef and his close associates. They have been quietly sharing this information selectively with PNC members and their inner circle while keeping ordinary Maldivians completely in the dark. Ever since June 2025, they have been slowly and secretly adding more merchants to the list month after month. Maldivians were left confused by unexplained charges appearing on their bank statements, inflated transaction amounts and vague or inconsistent explanations from BML call centres and app support.
That ends today.
Starting from this very hour, every Maldivian now has full transparency. You can check exactly which sites carry which fee rate and shop with complete knowledge of how much you will actually pay, no more surprise charges.
Only a sick and heartless individual would impose a punishing 30% fee on universities, hospitals, medical centres and pharmacies, the very institutions ordinary Maldivians rely on for education and life saving healthcare. Yet that is precisely what CEO Shareef has done. At the same time, he has quietly placed the world-class and expensive Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok, the preferred destination for many Ministers and MPs seeking medical treatment, at 3%. Check merchant #432.
I am told that the BML CEO directly intervenes and instructs management on exactly which merchants and individuals should be added to the list and sometimes orders their removal as well. He also maintains a high value customer list for whom these charges are quietly waived. This list continues to grow every day.
We were never informed about the introduction of these additional fee bands or the addition of hundreds of new merchants. The selective targeting of certain merchants, including what appear to be individually focused entries, along with the arbitrary and non-transparent manner in which these fees are being added, is very serious.
CEO Shareef is running BML like his own private limited company, but BML belongs to all Maldivians. If this were happening in almost any other country, consumer protection agencies would already be investigating the bank, supporting affected customers and pursuing legal action.
Every individual involved in this arbitrary and opaque fee setting process, including those who directly participated in selecting merchants, assigning punitive rates or approving selective waivers, will face investigation under the next gov.
Here's the link to BML's original announcement on 30 June 2025:
bankofmaldives.com.mv/articles/788/p…
This bank can no longer be trusted, not as long as Shareef remains the CEO of BML. What was once a respected national bank, despite its imperfections, has now lost the trust and respect of the Maldivian people. Under Shareef’s leadership, BML has fallen to its lowest point in history. He has proven to be the worst and lowest quality CEO the bank has ever had.Note:
This document was compiled by me based on an original source document that I am unable to publish in order to protect the identity and safety of the source.When journalists contact BML regarding this list, please do not ask whether the list itself is authentic, as they will simply deny it. Instead, ask them directly whether the content and information presented in this document are true.
After consulting with my source and upon their agreement, I am willing to share the original source document with the reputable newspapers I have tagged.
cc: @AdhadhuMV @Dhaurunews @DhiyavaruNews
@Infaaru @sunbrk @viraasee
