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.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
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’ 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.
