RÉUNION

Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, July 2021.

• The Institut d'émission des départements d'outre-mer (IEDOM –www.iedom.fr) acts as the central bank in French overseas departments and territories in the name, on behalf, and under the authority, of the Banque de France (www.banque-france.fr).
• The Banque de France is a member of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and operates certain activities, such as issuing currency, under the authority of the European Central Bank (ECB – www.ecb.int).

Bank supervision

• In November 2014, the ECB, via the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), assumed responsibility for supervising the financial stability of banks operating within the euro zone. However, while the ECB has final supervisory authority over all banks operating within the euro zone, it will only directly supervise those banks classified as ‘significant’ under the terms of the SSM (115 significant banking groups have been recognized to date). ‘Less significant’ banks will continue to be supervised by the national supervisory authority, i.e. the ACPR.
• Banks are supervised by the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR – www.acpr.banque-france.fr).
• The IEDOM, in collaboration with the ACPR, oversees the banking system in La Réunion.

• Lifting fees are rarely applied on payments between resident and non-resident bank accounts.
• Item-based charges and/or subscription fees are applied on payments between resident and non-resident bank accounts.

• Credit transfers are used by companies to pay salaries and suppliers, to make tax payments via the transfert de données fiscales et comptables procedure) and for treasury payments.
• SEPA credit transfers can be settled via CORE, STEP2 or via correspondent banking networks. STET expects to migrate SEPA credit transfers (SCTs) from CORE to SEPA.EU by September 2020. Unlike the current system used by CORE, in SEPA.EU the cycle concept will be replaced by continuous settlement with a prefunding model.
• Approximately 268 banks in France participate in the SEPA credit transfer scheme.
• High-value and urgent domestic and cross-border (within the euro zone) credit transfers can be settled in real time via TARGET2-Banque de France.
• High-value and urgent cross-border credit transfers can also be settled with end-of-day value via the Euro Banking Association's EURO1 system. Fourteen banks in France participate directly in EURO1.
• Cross-border transfers can be made via SWIFT and settled through correspondent banks abroad.
• The European Payment Council’s SCT Inst scheme (a pan-European 24/7 instant payment scheme for SEPA credit transfers) enables the transfer of funds (the maximum threshold value is EUR 100,000) to another account in less than ten seconds. There are 126 participants of the SCT Inst scheme in France.
• The SEPA.EU platform hosts STET’s Instant Payments CSM, which launched alongside the launch of the EPC’s SCT Inst scheme.
• EBA Clearing and Italy’s SIA Group have developed and implemented a pan-European platform for instant EUR payments called RT1. It is fully compliant with the SCT Insts scheme and is in line with the ISO 20022 global messaging standards for instant payments.
• TIPS is a pan-European service for the settlement of instant payments in central bank money. The service enables payment service providers and ACHs with access to TARGET2 to offer fund transfers 24/7, 365 days a year. TIPS is aligned with SCT Insts. It is primarily focused on EUR payments but is technically capable of settling payments denominated in other currencies.

• Direct debits are used for regular payments, such as utility bills.
• SEPA direct debits can be settled on a same-day basis via CORE or STEP2.

• Cheques are truncated into electronic items before being settled on a next-day basis via CORE.
• A small number of cheques cannot be truncated. These, and cheques with a value greater than EUR 5,000, are physically exchanged within four days of presentation.
• Negotiable, transferable bills of exchange are also available. These are truncated into electronic items before being settled on a five-day cycle via CORE. There are two forms which remain out of the scope of SEPA:
  • The lettre de change relevé (LCR) is an electronic trade bill, which is usually discounted to finance trade.
  • The billet à ordre (BOR) is a promissory note.

• Card payments are increasingly popular, especially for retail transactions.
• There were 814,154 payment cards (Cartes Bancaires) in circulation in La Réunion at the end of 2020, a 3.4% increase year on year. There were 129.7 million payment cards transactions in 2020, with a value of EUR 8.2 billion, a 1.8% and 3.9% increase respectively.
• There were 40,796 proprietary ATM cards in circulation at the end of 2020 and 55,793 credit cards (mainly Bourbon Benefits card and Aurore card).
• Groupe de Cartes Bancaires (GCB) is the country’s national payment card operator. It has 120 participants.
• Most cards in La Réunion are co-branded with GCB and Visa.
• American Express credit cards are also available.
• Domestic card payments are processed by CORE.
• All cards issued are SEPA-compliant with EMV chips.

• There were 602 ATMs in La Réunion at the end of 2020.
• There were 17,481 POS terminals in La Réunion at the end of 2020.
• All payments are settled via CORE.
• All ATMs and POS terminals are EMV-compliant.

• Pre-paid cards have a maximum value threshold of EUR 10,000. The limit for reloading cards is EUR 1,000 per month. Cash withdrawals are also capped at EUR 1,000 per month.
• E-money payments are capped at EUR 3,000 per transaction.
• E-money payments are settled via CORE.

• As an overseas department of France, customers in Réunion have access to BNP Paribas' comprehensive Global Trade Solutions (GTS) network.

• The EU has trade agreements in place with over 30 countries.
• The EU is currently in free trade negotiations with a number of countries, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, Indonesia, Mercosur (the Southern Common Market), Uruguay, and the USA. The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement entered into force on 1 May 2021.

• Please refer to import/ export volumes for France.