--- title: Syria Processes Its First International Card Payment in More Than 15 Years description: Syria has processed its first international card payment in more than 15 years, as sanctions relief reconnects its banks to global networks like Mastercard. author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief) updated: 2026-08-28T15:20:47.770Z canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/syria-first-international-card-payment-mastercard categories: FinTech content_type: News region: Middle East & Africa publication: Sovereign Magazine schema_type: Article --- On August 28, a shopper in Damascus paid a local merchant with an internationally issued Mastercard card, and the payment went through. That ordinary act had not been possible inside Syria for more than 15 years. QNB Syria, the Syrian arm of the Qatar-based QNB Group, processed the payment after a technical reconnection of the country's payments system to Mastercard's global network. Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, called it "an important step in modernizing the country's payments ecosystem." ## Fifteen Months of Sanctions Relief Cleared the Path The transaction is the visible end of a policy unwind that began with the fall of the Assad government in December 2024. Washington lifted comprehensive US sanctions on Syria in May 2025, effective July 1, 2025, and removed the Syrian Central Bank from the Treasury's list of specially designated nationals. On May 23, 2025, the Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a [general license authorizing transactions previously prohibited](https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-programs-and-country-information/syria-sanctions-inactive-and-archived) by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations, while keeping targeted measures on former president Bashar al-Assad and his associates, human-rights abusers, Captagon traffickers, and people tied to ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Iran. The rest of the plumbing followed through 2025 and 2026. The European Union lifted its own sanctions in May 2025. The US Congress repealed the Caesar Act in December 2025. Syrian banks regained SWIFT access in late 2025, and the Central Bank of Syria authorized local lenders to partner with Visa and Mastercard on May 4, 2026. The final piece landed four days before the Damascus payment: on August 24, 2026, the United States [removed Syria's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism](https://natlawreview.com/article/united-states-removes-syria-state-sponsors-terrorism-list), a label the country had carried since 1979. Yousef Mahmoud Al-Neama, chief business officer of QNB Group, framed the reconnection as a way to connect Syrian merchants to international payment capabilities and give customers more choice. Adam Jones, Mastercard's division president for West Arabia, called it a first step toward broader international card acceptance across the market. Al-Neama and Jones both described a starting point rather than a finished rollout, and the numbers behind the transaction bear that out. ## The Card Network Reaches a Few Thousand Terminals QNB runs roughly 4,200 point-of-sale devices across Syria, and it aims to reach 50,000 by the end of 2026. Set against a population of about 23 million, that is pilot-scale acceptance, concentrated for now in one bank's footprint. QNB is so far the only lender in Syria publicly confirmed to be live with an international payment processor, so the ability to pay with a foreign-issued card depends on walking into the right merchant with the right terminal. The wider economy sits well behind the terminal. Syria remains overwhelmingly cash-based, with minimal digital payment infrastructure, and informal hawala networks still carry the bulk of cross-border money movement. Card acceptance changes what is possible at the till without yet changing how most Syrians actually pay or move funds in or out of the country. ## The Macro Backdrop Stays Fragile The International Monetary Fund said in August 2026 that Syria's economic recovery is accelerating but remains uneven across regions, that poverty is still widespread, and that rehabilitating the banking system is critical. Poverty is estimated at around 90 percent of the population, and unemployment sits near 13.6 percent. The Syrian pound trades at more than 13,000 to the US dollar after a January 2026 redenomination. International compliance also stays cautious. Global banks continue to treat Syria as high-risk and de-risk accordingly. Transactions benefiting Russia, Iran or North Korea remain prohibited, and Syria remains on the Financial Action Task Force grey list. The reconnection to Mastercard opens a legal channel that did not exist a year ago. Whether it widens into everyday commerce depends on how many banks follow QNB onto the network, how fast the terminal count climbs, and whether foreign lenders decide the risk of doing business in Syria is now worth taking. ## FAQ **Q: Have US sanctions on Syria been lifted?** The United States lifted comprehensive sanctions in May 2025, effective July 1, 2025, and removed Syria's State Sponsor of Terrorism designation on August 24, 2026. Targeted sanctions remain in place against former president Bashar al-Assad and his associates, human-rights abusers, Captagon traffickers, and people linked to ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Iran, and transactions benefiting Russia, Iran or North Korea are still prohibited. **Q: Can you use a Visa or Mastercard card in Syria now?** Only in limited places. QNB Syria is so far the only bank publicly confirmed to be live with an international payment processor, running about 4,200 point-of-sale terminals with a stated target of 50,000 by the end of 2026. Syria's Central Bank authorized local banks to partner with Visa and Mastercard on May 4, 2026, so acceptance is expected to widen, but for now it is narrow. **Q: Why could Syria not process international card payments before?** Sanctions and the country's disconnection from global financial networks blocked them. Syrian banks regained SWIFT access only in late 2025, and the technical reconnection of Syria's payments system to Mastercard's global network is recent, which is what made the August 2026 transaction possible. **Q: Is Syria still designated a State Sponsor of Terrorism?** No. The United States removed the designation on August 24, 2026. Syria had held it since 1979.