Visa completes its first live international transaction in Syria

Visa has run a live cross-border test transaction in Syria with Fransabank Lebanon acquiring and Paymera providing local infrastructure, a first step toward international card acceptance in the market. What changed Syria has been largely cut off from global card networks since sanctions followed the 2011 conflict, leaving the market heavily cash-based. Visa's test, with Fransabank of Lebanon as acquirer and Paymera supporting local rails, is the first live international transaction and follows a strategy Visa announced in December 2025, an industry gathering in Damascus in February 2026 and an agreement signed with Syria's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Visa says it also intends to enable inbound visitors to use Visa cards in Syria. The Governor of the Central Bank of Syria framed the work as part of wider financial infrastructure modernisation.