How do people in São Tomé and Príncipe pay online?
Digital payments are early. The Banco Central de São Tomé e Príncipe (BCSTP) put banking penetration at about 35% in 2022, with four banks after one left the market. Internet banking carried 176,167 transactions worth 1,564 million dobras that year, and mobile banking 189,792 worth 1,533 million dobras. World Bank figures from the ITU put internet use at 59.1% of the population in 2024.
Dobra24 is the national card network. It links ATMs and point-of-sale terminals across banks and has run since October 2011, operated by SPAUT, an interbank company majority owned by the BCSTP. At the end of 2022 it had 48 ATMs and 556 terminals, up from 286, and 49,915 active Dobra24 cards. Most card use is cash withdrawal: 97.3% of ATM operations in 2022 were withdrawals.
International cards arrived in 2021. The BCSTP and SPAUT chose SIBS to upgrade the system, and the new platform processes Dobra24 and connects to international networks. Visa cards have been accepted at Dobra24 terminals since 2021, used by tourists, Santomeans living abroad and local holders of international cards. Online payment with domestic Dobra24 cards is not described in the central bank’s reports. Google lists the country for Google Pay in websites and apps, while Apple does not list it for Apple Pay.
There is no mobile money. A UNCDF assessment published in April 2025 found that the two mobile operators, CST and Unitel STP, do not offer mobile money, and that no mobile money operator was licensed at the end of 2021. A BCSTP survey it cites found that only 1% of business payments were made by digital means.
What rules shape online payments in São Tomé and Príncipe?
VAT is new. The VAT Code, first approved by Law No. 13/2019, entered into force on 1 June 2023 under Law No. 02/2023 and replaced the consumption tax. The standard rate is 15%, with special regimes at 7.5%, 7% and 2%. The published alert we reviewed does not set out a regime for foreign sellers of digital services, so check registration locally.
Payments have a legal framework. Law 17/2018 governs national payment systems and Decree-Law 16/2019 covers payment service providers and system operators, while card issuance follows the BCSTP’s 2012 regulation on bank cards. The BCSTP also oversees foreign exchange operations under Law 32/99.
Settlement is being modernised. The BCSTP was testing a real-time gross settlement system for large transfers between banks in 2024, and the UNCDF found that Dobra24 had not yet gained the security certification needed for full connection to the international card networks.
How would Omno route payments in São Tomé and Príncipe?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency and customer group. In São Tomé and Príncipe:
- Visa and Mastercard pay-ins would go to providers that accept international cards, routed by BIN with cascading to the next provider in the rule if one is unavailable or rejects the request.
- Customer group rules could separate diaspora and visitor cards from local customers, who may need a bank transfer instead.
- Google Pay would run in the hosted checkout on top of the same card routes.
Webhooks would report the final status of each payment, and the routing-decision log would show which provider handled it and why.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for a small online audience. About a third of people have a bank account, and only a minority of transactions are digital.
Plan for international cards. Visa cards held by visitors and the diaspora are the clearest route for online payments into the country.
Plan for VAT. The 15% VAT has applied since June 2023, so confirm whether your sales create a registration duty.
Plan for change. A real-time settlement system and wider card network links are in progress, which could open more methods later.