How do people in Samoa pay online?
Samoa is a small market, with about 219,000 people in 2025 according to the World Bank. Data on online checkout habits is limited, and the latest national demand-side survey dates from 2015. In that survey, cited in the Central Bank of Samoa’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy, about 39% of adults had a bank account and 34% used no formal or informal financial service.
Cards are the most direct way to pay a website. ANZ Samoa, for example, says its Visa Debit Card can be used online, in stores in Samoa and overseas wherever Visa is accepted. BSP and ANZ are the two largest banks, holding over 39% and about 25% of the market at the end of 2022. The World Bank counts 66.3 ATMs per 100,000 adults in 2024.
Banks have extended internet banking, and mobile banking customers rose by 51.5% between June 2018 and December 2019, from a small base of 1,501 to 2,275.
Two telecom operators run mobile wallets: Digicel’s MyCash and Vodafone’s MTala. Enrolment is high but use is low. Enrolled mobile money customers rose 52% to 76,515 by June 2022, while active users grew only from 5% to 9% of the total.
Google Pay is on Google’s list of countries where people can pay online and in apps. Apple Pay is not on Apple’s list for Samoa.
What rules shape online payments in Samoa?
VAGST is 15%. The Ministry for Revenue says value added goods and services tax of 15% is added to most goods and services supplied in Samoa by a registered business, and also applies to most imported goods and certain imported services. A business must register when its annual turnover passes, or is expected to pass, SAT 130,000. A foreign business working in Samoa under a contract or for a limited time registers only if it carries on a continuous and regular business activity in Samoa and passes the same threshold.
Larger sellers issue fiscal receipts. Under the Tax Invoice Monitoring System rules, businesses with annual turnover of SAT 200,000 and above must use an electronic fiscal device and give customers verifiable invoices or receipts.
Foreign exchange is licensed. The Central Bank of Samoa administers exchange control under the Exchange Control Regulations 1999, which also provide for licensing foreign exchange dealers.
Mobile money rules are still developing. When the current financial inclusion strategy was written, the central bank noted there were no regulations or policy guidelines yet for mobile money and digital financial services.
How would Omno route payments in Samoa?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency, amount and customer group. In Samoa:
- Card payments in WST would be routed by BIN to a provider that acquires Visa and Mastercard, with cascading to the next provider in the rule if one is unavailable or rejects the request.
- Google Pay would be offered on the hosted checkout and routed under the same card rules.
- Mobile wallet payments would go to a provider connected to MyCash or MTala, with the order held until the wallet confirms.
- Bank transfers could be accepted through a provider that confirms incoming payments by notification.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for cards first. Visa debit cards from local banks work online, and they are the simplest route for shoppers with a bank account.
Plan for VAGST at 15% and the SAT 130,000 registration threshold, and check how the rules on imported services apply to you.
Plan for low wallet activity. Many people are enrolled in mobile money, but few use it regularly, so treat wallets as an extra option rather than the main one.