How do people in Vanuatu pay online?
Vanuatu is a small market of about 335,000 people (World Bank, 2025). The Reserve Bank of Vanuatu (RBV) and the Vanuatu Bureau of Statistics surveyed 1,009 adults for the 2024 Demand Side Survey. Formal financial inclusion rose from 47% in 2016 to 56% in 2024.
Cash is the default. In the survey, 94% of respondents preferred to use cash, and 61% preferred cash for all payments. Only 20% preferred digital payments such as EFTPOS, mobile money or internet payments, and digital payments were most preferred for electricity and water bills.
Debit cards are the main card product. About 43% of respondents had a local debit card, mostly used once or twice a month, while only 7% had an international debit card. That gap matters for cross-border sellers.
Internet banking is still small. About 13% of account holders had signed up for it; most non-users said they did not know how to use it or had never heard of it.
Mobile money has barely started. Although 92% of adults had mobile access and 74% owned a smartphone, only 5% had a mobile money account and 2% had used one in the past year.
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 Vanuatu.
What rules shape online payments in Vanuatu?
VAT is 15%. The Department of Customs and Inland Revenue says VAT applies at 15% to most goods and services supplied in Vanuatu by registered persons; the rate was raised from 12.5% in 2018. A business must register when its taxable supplies over 12 months pass, or are expected to pass, VT 4 million. VAT is also imposed on most imported goods, and services supplied to non-residents who are outside Vanuatu are zero-rated.
Payment services are regulated. The National Payment System Act No. 8 of 2021 is the basis for the RBV’s oversight. In July 2025 the RBV issued operating guidelines for mobile money service providers, covering licensing, merchant registration, transaction limits and customer protection. Merchant payments are identified separately, with no limit on how many a person can make in a day if they have funds.
Consumers have a complaints route. The RBV has published a financial consumer protection guideline and, in 2026, an external dispute resolution guideline.
How would Omno route payments in Vanuatu?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency, amount and customer group. In Vanuatu:
- Card payments in VUV 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.
- Bank transfers could be accepted through a provider that confirms incoming payments by notification.
- Mobile money could be added as licensed providers open merchant payments, with the order held until the wallet confirms.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for a cash-first market. Most people prefer cash, so online checkout will reach a smaller, mostly urban and banked audience.
Plan for card coverage. Only 7% of respondents held an international debit card, so check that your provider accepts locally issued cards.
Plan for VAT at 15% and the VT 4 million registration threshold.