News

Club L London Teams With Checkout.com For Global Expansion

The fashion retailer plans to enhance global payments and expand into new markets using Shopify’s e-commerce platform.

Published

2 years ago

September 18, 2024

club l london teams with checkout.com to boost global expansion

Global payment provider Checkout.com, has announced a collaboration with Club L London, a rapidly expanding online fashion retailer, to improve its global payment capabilities.

Club L London, which operates through six dedicated international websites, has recently launched a new platform for the Middle East, and is relying on Checkout.com’s expertise to support its global growth. The partnership is particularly focused on the MENA region, where Checkout.com has offices in both Dubai and Riyadh, plus key licenses in the United Arab Emirates.

By choosing Checkout.com as its primary payment provider, Club L London benefits from a pre-built Shopify checkout solution and superior payment performance. Additionally, local acquiring services are available in the UAE, along with Shopify digital wallet integration, elevating the overall customer experience for shoppers.

Headquartered in Manchester, UK, Club L London offers affordable luxury womenswear with distinctive designs. The brand has a strong presence in the UK, US, France, Australia, and the UAE and specializes in prom dresses, maternity wear, bridal attire, and accessories. Club L has built a global community of diverse consumers, influencers, and content creators, consistently releasing new collections to meet the demands of its expanding audience.

Also Read: Top E-Commerce Websites In The Middle East In 2024

‍Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, General Manager, MENA, Checkout.com, said: “We’re passionate about helping businesses thrive in the digital economy. Club L is a prime example of a tech-enabled brand that we can help to grow via high acceptance rates, smooth integration with its e-commerce platform, and leverage our leadership and knowledge position in the MENA region”‍.

‍Seb Green, Chief Technical Officer at Club L London, added: “We are always looking for ways to enhance the customer experience on our site by offering the best payment methods. Checkout.com’s integration is a perfect fit for us, presenting an exciting opportunity for us to expand into new markets with a leading payments provider”.

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

6 days ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.