Bank cards using the Visa and Mastercard networks, respectively. (Credit: Dado Ruvic/Reuters)
The rollout appears to have gone smoothly. After a 15-year absence, Visa and Mastercard are once again operating in Syria.On May 9, an official ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus marked the return of card payments, which had vanished from the country at the start of the war in 2011 following Western sanctions imposed on the Assad regime.The move comes after banking restrictions on Damascus — particularly those imposed by the United States — were lifted last summer following a meeting between Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and U.S. President Donald Trump in May 2025. Behind the headlines In Syria, Sharaa launches cabinet reshuffle in attempt to quell criticism Washington then removed the remaining sanctions in December, officially reopening the path toward Syria’s reconstruction.Against this backdrop, the return of...
The rollout appears to have gone smoothly. After a 15-year absence, Visa and Mastercard are once again operating in Syria.On May 9, an official ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus marked the return of card payments, which had vanished from the country at the start of the war in 2011 following Western sanctions imposed on the Assad regime.The move comes after banking restrictions on Damascus — particularly those imposed by the United States — were lifted last summer following a meeting between Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and U.S. President Donald Trump in May 2025. Behind the headlines In Syria, Sharaa launches cabinet reshuffle in attempt to quell criticism Washington then removed the remaining sanctions in December, officially reopening the path toward Syria’s reconstruction.Against this backdrop, the return...
