Financial transactions conducted through money transfers in the Maldives have increased 25 percent over the past four years.
According to statistics released by the central bank, the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), transfers were the most common form of financial transactions during the past three years.
A total of 88.86 million transactions were conducted through transfers in 2022 alone, which amounted to MVR 563.1 billion and represented 60 percent of transactions conducted throughout the year.
The use of transfers for financial transactions increased significantly from 2019 onward, the statistics show.
One of the main reasons for the change was businesses enabling online payments as part of safety measures taken due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since then, the convenience and popularity of money transfers have grown every year with the smallest to the largest businesses now offering transfer payments.
Statistics for financial transactions during the past four years. -- Source: MMA
A total of 22.22 million transactions were conducted through transfers in 2019, which was 35.5 percent of all transactions during the year, statistics show.
At the time, most transactions were carried out with bank cards. A total of 27.53 million transactions were conducted with cards that year.
However, as businesses shifted away from cash towards online payment services amid the pandemic, the use of transfers multiplied in 2020.
While 37 million transfers were made during the year, card transactions fell to 29.96 million. Transactions with checks and cash also declined during the year.
The use of bank cards remains the second most common form of transactions after the increase in the popularity of transfer services during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Transactions with checks and cash have been falling every year. Transactions worth MVR 69.2 million were conducted with checks in 2022. Cash transactions during the year amounted to MVR 32 million.
