Visa Enters Syria: A Turning Point for Digital Payments in the Levant

Visa’s Launch Signals a New Phase for Syria’s Financial Recovery

Visa’s announcement last week that it will begin operations in Syria marks one of the most significant developments in the country’s financial landscape since the start of the civil war. After years of isolation from global payment networks, Syria has reached an agreement with Visa and the Central Bank that outlines a roadmap to build a fully modern digital payments ecosystem.

Speaking at the Reuters NEXT conference, Syrian Central Bank governor AbdulKader Husrieh described the partnership as foundational to the country’s economic reopening, saying,

“We are glad that we are working with Visa… our vision is to have Syria as a hub — a financial hub — for the Levant.” 

His remarks capture the ambition driving the initiative: to rebuild a system not by restoring what was lost, but by establishing modern rails aligned with international standards from day one.

Visa’s initial priorities reflect this approach, focusing on collaboration with licensed banks to roll out secure digital wallets, EMV-standard payment cards, and merchant acceptance solutions powered by its Visa Acceptance Platform. Tap to Phone, QR-based payments, and low-cost digital acceptance tools are central to the strategy, aimed especially at supporting the MSME sector that powers much of Syria’s domestic commerce.

As Visa noted in its announcement,

“The immediate focus will be on working with licensed financial institutions to develop a robust and secure payments foundation.” 

This includes the foundational steps needed to make the Syrian economy interoperable with global commerce — something the country has lacked for over a decade.

Rebuilding a System After Years of Isolation

The significance of this move becomes clearer when viewed against Syria’s financial history since 2011. Sweeping U.S. and European sanctions cut the country off from SWIFT transfers, correspondent banking, and much of the global payments system. The civil war contributed to institutional fragmentation, currency volatility, and a collapse in formal financial activity.

That environment has shifted rapidly over the past year. The IMF visited Damascus in November, offering technical assistance on regulatory reform, payment-system rehabilitation, and strengthening the central bank’s capacity to manage inflation and banking supervision. Last June, Syria successfully completed its first SWIFT transaction since the war began — a symbolic but meaningful step toward re-entering the international financial architecture.

Visa’s regional senior vice president, Leila Serhan, framed the moment with unmistakable clarity: 

“A reliable and transparent payment system is the bedrock of economic recovery and a catalyst that builds the confidence required for broader investment to flow into the country.”

For a nation whose economy shrank by more than half during the conflict, that reliability is essential. The World Bank has forecast only modest growth for 2025, though Husrieh argues those projections underestimate the economic impact of easing sanctions and refugee returns. Even so, the Bank stresses that durable recovery hinges on stability, governance, and deeper international engagement — all areas where the development of digital payments plays a supporting role.

What Visa Is Building — and Why the Strategy Matters

The roadmap Visa and the Central Bank have agreed to is designed to compress years of infrastructure-building into a phased plan that gives Syria immediate access to modern tools. EMV card issuance, tokenized digital wallets, standardized acceptance rails, and merchant onboarding frameworks create a payment system that mirrors established markets rather than emerging ones.

Husrieh reinforced this vision when he said,

“The vision presented by Visa offers a powerful path forward to accelerate our modernization agenda, enhance transparency, and provide our people and businesses with the tools they need to rebuild and thrive.”

For merchants — especially the micro and small businesses that make up a large share of Syria’s economic activity — the transformation could be profound. Digital payments allow formalization, credit-building, safer transaction flows, and connections to broader Levantine and global markets. Visa’s commitment to investing in local talent development and fintech entrepreneurship adds another layer, positioning Syria to grow its own payment innovators rather than relying entirely on imported infrastructure.

This expansion does not stand alone. The Syrian Central Bank also signed a memorandum of understanding with Mastercard earlier this year, aimed at strengthening digital payments infrastructure, expanding financial inclusion, and improving technical expertise through training programs. When viewed together, the two agreements represent a coordinated effort to bring Syria back into alignment with global payment networks.

A New Chapter for the Levant — and a Signal to the Global Payments Industry

While Syria’s long-term recovery faces real challenges — from political stability to institutional reform — Visa’s entry marks a turning point. Payment networks rarely engage at this level with frontier markets unless they see conditions aligning for integration into the global economy. The partnership suggests confidence in Syria’s institutional rebuilding and creates a framework for cross-border commerce that did not exist just a year ago.

It also reflects a broader trend: emerging markets adopting modern digital payment standards immediately rather than evolving from legacy systems. For fintech operators, payment providers, and global merchants, Syria’s initiative offers a glimpse of how quickly digital ecosystems can take shape when both governments and networks commit to modernization.

As the country re-enters global financial channels, the next few years will reveal how deeply digital payments shape its economic trajectory. What is clear now is that Syria has stepped into a new phase — one defined by renewed engagement, new infrastructure, and the beginning of a digital foundation capable of supporting the next chapter of its recovery.