By Feras Dalatey
DAMASCUS, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Visa and Mastercard carried out their first international card transactions in Syria on Wednesday, a major step in reconnecting the country with global payment networks days after Washington removed it from its state sponsors of terrorism list.
The near-simultaneous moves by two of the world’s largest payment networks offer one of the clearest signs yet of Syria’s accelerating reintegration into the global financial system after decades of sanctions and isolation.
Qatar’s QNB Group said it and Mastercard had completed what it described as the world’s first end-to-end international card payment in Syria, while Visa said separately it had tested its first live international transaction in the country with Lebanon-based Fransabank.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa took part in the Visa test, making a card payment at a restaurant in Damascus’s historic Old City, according to a video published by Syria’s state-run Syrian Response. Central Bank Governor Mohammed Safwat Raslan was seated alongside him.
Syria’s central bank told Reuters the transactions marked the start of international card payment services in the country after months of technical preparations and testing, though the service has yet to reach nationwide coverage.
U.S. DESIGNATION HAD BEEN MAJOR DETERRENT TO BANKS
The transactions came just two days after the U.S. formally removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The designation, imposed in 1979, had remained a major deterrent to international banks and investors even after Washington dismantled its broader sanctions programme against the country.
Washington terminated comprehensive sanctions on Syria in December last year while retaining targeted measures against former President Bashar al-Assad and his associates, rights abusers, drug traffickers, Islamic State and al Qaeda affiliates and Iranian proxies.
But Syria’s continued designation as a state sponsor of terrorism carried restrictions on financial transactions and remained a source of legal and compliance risk for banks considering doing business there.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani told Reuters before the removal of that measure on Monday that Damascus hoped lifting what he called the “last obstacle” would reconnect Syria with the global financial and economic system and boost investment.
“There is no longer any obstacle to investment, doing business and rebuilding economic life in Syria,” he said.
The central bank told Reuters the launch of international Visa and Mastercard transactions in the country was not linked to a single event, as technical, regulatory and compliance preparations had begun months earlier.
However, the removal of restrictions and designations had improved the environment for international banks and financial technology companies, it added.
Sharaa’s government has made restoring access to global finance and attracting foreign investment a central part of its economic strategy since rebels led by him toppled Assad in December 2024.
STEP TOWARDS WIDER ACCEPTANCE
Visa said it planned to enable international visitors to use their cards while in Syria, and described the test as a step towards wider international card acceptance in the country.
QNB said its system now allows Syrian merchants including hotels, restaurants and government entities to accept international Mastercard credit cards through its point-of-sale terminals.
It will gradually add eligible merchants as part of a phased rollout, subject to regulatory approvals.
Visa’s transaction was carried out in cooperation with Fransabank Lebanon as the acquiring financial institution and Paymera, a Syrian payments technology company owned by the state’s sovereign fund.
The central bank said it was working to rebuild correspondent banking relationships and expand official channels for cross-border transfers and payments, but gave no timetable for Syria’s broader reintegration into the global financial system.
It said restoring international banking relationships fully would still require work on compliance, governance, risk management, cybersecurity and regulatory oversight after years of limited links to the global system.
(Writing by Feras Dalatey; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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