Despite the strong increase in the number of bank cards on the island over the past twenty years, more than half of the payments made in stores by Reunion Islanders are now paid in cash, like in France, according to the Issuing Institute of Overseas Departments based on a survey carried out at the end of 2022. Payments by bank card represent 43% of the number of transactions carried out, while the use of mobile payment applications (2 %) and “other means (checks, transfers, titres-restaurants…) payment » (3 %) remains weak. The share of cash payments decreases with the increase in the level of education of those surveyed by Iédom : two thirds of payments made by people without a diploma are paid in cash compared to 43% for higher education graduates. Students stand out for the place given to mobile payments : 14% of their transactions are settled via an app. Cash payments are the prerogative of small, everyday purchases, i.e. 87% of payments worth less than 5 euros. Reunion Islanders prefer bank cards as soon as the amount spent exceeds 20 euros. Finally, online payments only represent 5% of everyday payments (excluding recurring invoices, subscriptions, etc.) in Reunion compared to 20% in France.
