Banks in Vanuatu

The Reserve Bank of Vanuatu (RBV) is Vanuatu's central bank and the main banking supervisor. It licenses domestic and international banks, applies prudential rules on capital, liquidity, asset quality and risk management, and oversees interbank clearing and settlement. The main legal framework includes the Reserve Bank Act, the Financial Institutions Act, the International Banking Act and the National Payment System Act No. 8 of 2021. The Vanuatu Financial Intelligence Unit (VFIU) supervises anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing duties alongside the banking framework. The five commercial banks are National Bank of Vanuatu (NBV), Wanfuteng Bank, ANZ Bank (Vanuatu) Limited, BRED Bank (Vanuatu) Limited and Bank South Pacific (Vanuatu) Limited, commonly called BSP. NBV and Wanfuteng are nationally owned, while ANZ, BRED and BSP are foreign-owned subsidiaries. International or offshore banks are a separate category and should not automatically be treated as ordinary retail banks for local account, card or payment needs. The Vanuatu Rural Development Bank is a rural-development and lending institution, not one of the five commercial retail deposit banks. Customers can usually choose between transaction or everyday accounts, savings accounts, term deposits, foreign-currency call accounts, multi-currency accounts, joint accounts, cheque accounts and business or corporate accounts. Product names and conditions differ. Examples include NBV retail and rural accounts, ANZ Access Everyday and Pacific Savings, BRED Savings Premium, Term Deposit and Foreign Currency Call accounts, BSP Everyday, Online Saver and Term Deposit accounts, and Wanfuteng individual, joint, business and term-deposit accounts. A term deposit is an account-based deposit product, not an investment product. BRED lists terms from 30 days to 12 months, and early withdrawal can result in lost interest or a cancellation fee. Account opening is generally branch-based. A bank may request a valid passport, driving licence, national identity card, Vanuatu National Provident Fund card or birth certificate, together with proof of address such as a utility bill, tenancy document, employment letter or official letter. A non-resident may also need a residence permit. Remote applications can require certified copies, although banks generally prefer original documents. Banks carry out know-your-customer checks, usually called KYC, and may ask for the ultimate beneficial owner, source of funds, politically exposed person status and tax information. They also monitor transactions over time. Meeting the document list does not create an automatic right to an account because the bank must complete its customer and financial-crime checks. People in rural and outer-island areas may face longer travel distances, weaker infrastructure and fewer service points. RBV Prudential Guideline No. 9 can allow supplementary independent evidence, such as a letter from a chief, pastor, magistrate or provincial authority, but the bank still has to establish identity and understand the purpose of the transactions. NBV has about 30 rural banking locations, and BSP asks rural applicants to contact the relevant local branch. Practical access therefore depends strongly on geography, communications and the bank's local presence. Payments can use cash, cheques, demand drafts, banker's cheques, debit and credit cards, EFTPOS, internet or mobile banking, mobile wallets, QR payments and remittance services. VANKLIA, Vanuatu's national payment switch, has operated since 11 September 2023. The Automated Transfer System (ATS) supports RTGS for high-value or urgent payments, ACH for bulk or lower-value payments, and a central securities depository for the relevant settlement functions. RTGS means real-time gross settlement, while ACH means automated clearing house. The RBV acts as system operator and settlement agent. Current active national payment-system participants listed by the RBV include the RBV, ANZ, BSP, BRED and NBV; Wanfuteng not appearing on that list does not by itself prove non-participation. Cards and electronic channels vary by bank. ANZ offers Visa Debit and internet banking through the ANZ Pacific App. BRED offers Visa Debit with EMV security, contactless payments and one-time passwords, as well as Vanuatu Connect for web and app transfers, bill payments and QR payments. BSP offers Classic Visa Debit with Visa, payWave, 3-D Secure, ATM, EFTPOS and online-commerce functions, together with 24-hour online banking. NBV offers Debit Mastercard, IsiKad, IsiPOS, IsiNet and IsiMobile or IsiAkaon, including domestic funds transfers. Wanfuteng offers ATM deposits and withdrawals, multi-currency services and online banking with two-factor authentication, account statements for up to six years, and domestic and international transfers. The current card network and availability should be confirmed with the bank before applying. EFTPOS and ATM interoperability can make another bank's card usable outside its own network, but a foreign-bank fee may apply. BRED EFTPOS accepts local NBV and ANZ cards and Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and UnionPay. BSP EFTPOS accepts domestic cards, Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Mobile money is separate from a bank account: Digicel MyCash and Vodafone M-Vatu support peer-to-peer transfers, utility and merchant payments and inbound remittances under the national payment framework. A 2024 demand survey reported relatively low use of mobile money, although mobile access is widespread. International transfers commonly use SWIFT and may involve correspondent banks, higher charges and stricter checks. Payment times depend on the bank, cut-off time, payment system and, for international transfers, the correspondent bank. ANZ states that an internal payment ordered before 21:45 may be completed the same day, but the receiving bank's processing time is separate. Bank holidays, system failures and natural disasters can delay payments. Customers should check the recipient's account name and number several times before confirming a transfer. A wrong payment may be difficult or impossible to stop or recover. NBV domestic funds transfers do not automatically validate the account name against the account number, and VANKLIA payments are systemically irrevocable. Keep PINs, passwords and one-time passwords private, use separate strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication where offered. Use the official bank website or app store, avoid links in unexpected messages and avoid entering credentials on public devices or unsecured networks. Review statements and alerts regularly, and contact the bank immediately after losing a card, SIM or device or noticing an unknown transaction. Liability for an unauthorized transaction depends on the bank's contract and the circumstances; fraud or gross negligence can leave the customer responsible. There is no nationally uniform bank fee. Each bank's fee schedule and account terms determine charges for account maintenance, ATM use, other-bank ATM use, cards, EFTPOS, online banking, bill payments, domestic and international transfers, and foreign-exchange transactions. For example, ANZ's schedule effective 1 August 2025 lists a VUV 120 monthly fee for Access Everyday, VUV 30 per ATM transaction and VUV 300 for staff-assisted service. BRED lists an annual or replacement Visa Debit fee of VUV 6,000, a non-BRED ATM charge of 2.5% plus VUV 300 and an overseas ATM charge of 2.5% plus VUV 300. Public BSP fee sheets list VUV 100 for a non-BSP ATM, VUV 500 for a rural or remote ATM, VUV 500 for an overseas ATM and VUV 1,500 for an overseas foreign-exchange transfer. Banks can change prices and products, so the current schedule should be checked before opening an account or sending money. The reviewed banking framework does not establish a state deposit-insurance guarantee that customers should assume applies to ordinary bank deposits in Vanuatu. Deposit protection instead rests mainly on bank licensing and supervision, the bank's financial strength and the account contract. Customers should read the terms for interest, access, early withdrawal, currency conversion and fees rather than treating every deposit as government-guaranteed. A customer normally raises a complaint with the bank first. Financial Consumer Protection guidelines set RBV expectations on fee disclosure, key facts, terms, complaint handling and record keeping, but they are not a complete substitute for binding legislation. A formal external dispute-resolution system has been limited, and the current availability and binding force of RBV dispute-resolution procedures should be confirmed directly with the RBV or the bank. In 2024, formal financial inclusion was reported at 56%, up from 47% in 2016, while formal savings reached 43%, up from 27%. Mobile-phone access reached 92% and smartphone access 74%; rural and agriculture-based households remained more likely to be unbanked, with home savings still common.