Visa and Mastercard began international card transactions in Syria days after the US removed Damascus from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, a milestone in the country’s reintegration with the global financial system.
The payment companies separately announced the first successful payments, with Mastercard saying hotels, restaurants and government entities could now accept its international credit cards through Qatar National Bank point-of-sale terminals.
The payments are a sign of progress in Syria’s drive to reconnect with the world economy and repair its financial sector after it was cut off from the global system by years of sanctions under dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who ousted Assad in 2024 following a 13-year civil war, posted a video on Thursday of himself paying for coffee in a Damascus hotel using a gold-coloured Visa card, sitting across from central bank governor Mohammed Safwat Raslan.
“Will that be cash or credit, Mr President?” quipped a Syrian state-run social media account that shared the video, adding: “For more than 15 years, this simple transaction was impossible . . . Syria’s return to the global financial system became a fact.”
The announcements came just days after the US removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, a designation that had deterred international banks and investors from dealing with the country.
Since taking power after a lightning offensive that toppled the Assad regime, Sharaa has built relationships with European governments and Donald Trump, securing the lifting of the sanctions that had been a major obstacle to the recovery of Syria’s devastated economy.
Sharaa inherited an economy decimated by the civil war, sanctions and drained state coffers.
The authorities have sought to introduce free-market reforms to what was a tightly controlled economic system under Assad, rebuild the collapsed banking sector and attract international investment.
After the Trump administration announced the end of Syria’s state sponsors of terrorism designation on Sunday, central bank head Raslan called the move a “historic step that returned Syria to its natural place in the global financial system”.
The Visa test payment “paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and represents a practical milestone in expanding payment options and facilitating transactions for international visitors”, Raslan said.
Visa said it was working with Lebanon’s Fransabank and Syrian payment company Paymera. Mastercard worked with Qatar National Bank.
Posted by Desperate_Wear_1866
3 Comments
Visa and MasterCard entering Syria will allow ordinary Syrians to once against interact with the global financial system.
Given the rise of national alternatives to the American payment processing duopoly, both staking a foothold in Syria will help them shore up their global payment networks and therefore American international influence.
Also a step forward for the weirdos who really want to buy Syrian ETFs 😛
That is quick
give Syria ETF