Under the arrangement, senders pay in Maldivian Rufiyaa or in US Dollars, and recipients receive Indian Rupees (INR) instantly to their bank accounts, an experience the MMA has likened to making a domestic instant payment.
MMA
The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has announced the go-live of a cross-border payment integration connecting Favara, the Maldives' instant payment system, with India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in a milestone that allows individuals in the Maldives to transfer money to beneficiaries in India in real time. The service was officially inaugurated by the Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), Ahmed Munawar, during a special ceremony held at the central bank today. The event was graced by the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Iruthisham Adam, and the High Commissioner of India to the Maldives, H.E. G. Balasubramanian.
The service launched on 30 July 2026 with two local banks, Bank of Maldives Plc (BML) and Maldives Islamic Bank Plc (MIB), participating in the initial rollout. Customers of the two banks can now send person-to-person (P2P) transfers to UPI-enabled bank accounts in India directly through their existing mobile applications and internet banking platforms, with no need to register for a separate service or download a new application.
Under the arrangement, senders pay in Maldivian Rufiyaa or in US Dollars and recipients receive Indian Rupees (INR) instantly to their bank accounts, an experience the MMA has likened to making a domestic instant payment.
The introduction of this service is the product of an agreement signed on 24 July 2025 between the MMA and NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the international arm of India's National Payments Corporation. Its implementation reflects collaboration between the MMA, Payment Maldives Pvt Ltd, the Reserve Bank of India, NIPL, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), participating financial institutions, and other stakeholders in both countries.
A first for the Maldives
The launch marks the Maldives' first real-time international payment connection established through its own national payment infrastructure. It also places the country among a small group with live cross-border P2P interoperability with UPI; prior to the Maldives, only Singapore and Nepal had implemented comparable connectivity, even as UPI's international footprint has grown to 11 partnerships.
UPI has become one of the world's largest digital payment ecosystems. Operated by NPCI and used through apps such as Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm, the platform processed approximately 241.6 billion transactions worth around USD 3.56 trillion in FY2025–26. In June 2026 alone, it handled close to 22.7 billion transactions an average of roughly 757 million a day.
How it works
The service is being rolled out in phases. Phase one, now live, covers P2P remittances. Phase two, which will introduce QR-based merchant (P2M) payments, is in the final stages of discussion between the MMA and NIPL.
For now, the service supports outbound transfers from the Maldives to India only, on an account-to-account basis; cash withdrawals are not supported. Testing of the reverse corridor from India to the Maldives is expected to begin in the coming months.
In line with foreign exchange regulations, transfers are permitted only for approved purposes: education expenses; medical treatment for Maldivians holding long-term medical visas; and family maintenance and personal savings. Each customer may transfer up to INR 24,000 (about USD 250) per month through each participating bank, and banks may choose to apply lower limits.
A transfer is completed in two stages. The system first verifies the recipient, routing the request through Favara to UPI, where the account is screened through fraud and sanctions controls and the verified recipient name is returned to the sender for confirmation all before any money moves. Once the sender confirms, their bank debits the account in MVR or USD, converts the value to INR, and routes the payment through Favara to UPI for near-instant credit. Behind the scenes, participating Maldivian banks maintain pre-funded INR settlement accounts with correspondent banks in India, enabling immediate settlement.
Before authorizing a payment, customers are shown the applicable exchange rate, any bank fees, and the verified recipient name.
What's next?
The MMA said subsequent phases of the collaboration will introduce additional cross-border use cases, including merchant QR payments and other digital payment services, further strengthening economic and financial ties between the two countries. The authority also thanked the governments of the Maldives and India for their support in delivering the initiative.
For the Maldives, the Favara–UPI link is a step toward deeper integration with one of the world's most advanced digital payment ecosystems offering individuals and families a faster, simpler, and more affordable way to move money across the corridor, while giving local banks a new remittance channel built directly into their existing platforms.
