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Dubai-Based Carasti Lets You Rent A Car For Up To Two Years
Carasti describes itself as an all-inclusive car subscription app that removes all the hassle associated with car ownership, such as service and maintenance, while preserving all the benefits.
Due to environmental and safety regulations, as well as rising costs of insurance and fuel, the cost of car ownership has never been higher. While modern public transportation systems in many countries already provide an attractive alternative, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted their limitations. Fortunately, there’s another option available: long-term car renting, and McKinsey predicts that it will generate almost 30 percent of the automotive industry’s revenue by 2030 thanks to startups like Carasti, which has just launched its service following a successful pre-Series A funding round last month.
Based in Dubai, Carasti describes itself as an all-inclusive car subscription app that removes all the hassle associated with car ownership, such as service and maintenance, while preserving all the benefits.
Carasti
“Our subscription model aims to make car ownership as flexible and affordable as possible, providing our customers with an easy alternative to car ownership,” explains the company’s CEO, Claudio Esposito-Aiardo. “There are no hidden costs, no extra fees, and no financial surprises. We simply don’t believe that you should be weighing yourself down with debts, bank loans, and payments just to drive a car.”
Also Read: Dubai-Based Startup Huspy Helps Emiratis Buy Homes Online
Carasti users can choose between two distinct subscription models. The month-to-month subscription model provides access to a variety of nearly new cars with a monthly, 6 month or yearly commitment. The mini lease subscription model lets users choose a 12 or 24-month plan on a brand-new car.
Regardless of which model you pick, you always have to provide only your Emirates ID, driving license, passport copy, or visa copy. All subscriptions include insurance, maintenance, roadside assistance, and flexible car switching. Carasti supports both Android and iOS devices, and your first car can be delivered to you in as little as 4 hours from downloading it.
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.
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.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
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