02 November 2020
Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has signed an agreement with Tietoevry, to implement an Instant Payments System in the Maldives. Initiated under the Maldives Payment System Development Project, the Instant Payments System will form the most essential component of the project. Despite being a geographically dispersed island nation, the successful implementation of the system will enable users to make and receive payments in real-time, irrespective of the island they live on or where they bank. It will also facilitate the introduction of innovative payment solutions to the market by Payment Service Providers, connected via a single platform.
Maldives Payment System Development Project has been a major national-level initiative, and an important project for the MMA to transform the payments landscape of the Maldives. Hence, this occasion marks 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.
The Instant Payments System in the Maldives will be based on Tietoevry’s Instant Payments Solution and will include ISO20022 message processing, liquidity management, fee management, fraud management and proxy (smart) addressing services. The project also involves developing a digital bank solution with a mobile application to enable the creation of new value-added payment services, promote innovation and increase competition in the Maldives. The mobile application will allow citizens and visitors to send and receive money, as well as pay for goods and services instantly.
In addition, the Unified Payment Gateway, based on Tietoevry’s PSD2 API aggregation platform, will allow easy access to payment infrastructure and introduce new market players in the Maldivian payment space such as account information providers and payment service providers. Payment service providers will gain access to the account-to-account domestic payments scheme using open APIs, thus enabling digital and integrated payment services. To foster innovation and competition in the Maldivian payments space the system will be open and flexible.
The Governor of Maldives Monetary Authority, Ali Hashim said, “This is an important step being taken towards the advancement of the Maldivian payments landscape, in line with those of the developed economies of the world. We expect this system to address the various challenges being faced by the Maldivians within the existing payments system. Being able to partner with a company of Tietoevry’s caliber gives MMA the added confidence of being able to deliver these expected results of this project.”
MMA has taken Tietoevry as a partner for this project, because of the company’s proven credentials in providing modern, real-time payment solutions around the world. For example, Tietoevry worked with Swedish company Getswish, the owner of the successful mobile payment solution Swish and developed Siirto, Finland’s first real-time mobile payment platform for Automatia. In addition to their Nordic experience, Tietoevry also built PesaLink, a real-time money transfer solution in Kenya.
Ilkka Korkiakoski, Head of Payments, Tietoevry said, “We are proud to partner with MMA to build real-time payment ecosystem for Maldives. The new payments infrastructure provides participants all modern real-time capabilities as well as promotes innovation and improves financial inclusion in the market”. He also added, “By delivering our Instant Payment Solution of the new generation, we will enable a payments infrastructure that’s secure, open and easily scalable to ensure that new propositions are built as needed.”
Tietoevry’s Instant Payments Solution is scalable and simple to configure, allowing for easy product range expansion. The cloud-native platform is based on micro-services architecture and enables the freedom to independently develop and deploy new services.
The Maldivian payments infrastructure will be developed and enhanced to the levels and standards set by major economies, with this collaboration with Tietoevry. MMA anticipates this to be the beginning of a long-term partnership with Tietoevry in the journey to modernize and develop the Maldivian payments system.
For additional information, please contact:
MMA, Media and Communications Unit , +960 3012103, media@mma.gov.mv
Tietoevry Newsdesk, +358 40 570 4072, news@tietoevry.com
Tietoevry creates digital advantage for businesses and society. We are a leading digital services and software company with local presence and global capabilities. Our Nordic values and heritage steer our success.Headquartered in Finland, Tietoevry employs around 24 000 experts globally. The company serves thousands of enterprise and public sector customers in more than 90 countries. Tietoevry’s annual turnover is approximately EUR 3 billion and its shares are listed on the NASDAQ in Helsinki and Stockholm as well as on the Oslo Børs. www.tietoevry.com