Financial Services Demand Side Survey Vanuatu

This report provides a comprehensive picture of access and usage of financial services in Vanuatu from a consumer perspective, garnering insights into the financial needs of Ni-Vanuatu as well as establishing baseline information on access, usage and quality of the financial services currently available. According to the nationally representative survey conducted in June 2016, ni-Vanuatu adults more likely to be financially excluded are low-income earners, women, those who earn income from agriculture and those from rural areas.

The Vanuatu survey shows that although the majority of adults in Vanuatu earn income from agriculture, most are likely to be unbanked. This factor could contribute to the low levels of formal account ownership and policy makers seeking to increase account ownership among agricultural workers should address barriers such as lack of identification, distance to access points, preference for cash, and the perceived cost of setting up formal account. The results showed that women are less likely to have a formal bank account, but are more financially active than men. It shows that savings, credit and remittances are deployed for different purposes in Vanuatu, a finding that can be put to useful purpose in the design and marketing of products.

Furthermore, 80% of adults use informal savings and credit instruments throughout Vanuatu such as informal credit or savings instrument in the past 12 months. This in itself shows a potential gap that are being met by informal instruments due to issues to do with convenience and flexibility of savings. Finally, a large percentage of the banked adults are not transacting which underpins the problem of equating access and usage.