News
Google Brings Plus Codes To 18 MENA Countries
The geocode system behind the feature, called the Open Location Code, was developed at Google’s Zürich engineering office and launched in 2014.
The Plus Codes feature of Google Maps will soon be turned on for users in 18 MENA countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria.
The feature allows Google Maps users to turn their latitude and longitude co-ordinates into a short sequence of numbers and letters that they can easily share with others.
“Plus Codes are like street addresses for people or places that don’t have one,” explains Google. “With a Plus Code, people can receive deliveries, access emergency and social services, or just help other people find them.”
The geocode system behind the feature, called the Open Location Code (OLC), was developed at Google’s Zürich engineering office and launched in 2014.
Also Read: Disney+ Confirms Its Middle East Launch Date
Earlier this year, Plus Codes launched in India, quickly attracting hundreds of thousands of users. Plus Codes are also widely used by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments in Sub-Saharan Africa, and businesses that want to make it easier for customers to find them.
To Generate A Plus Code On A Computer
- Open Google Maps.
- Select the location for which you want to generate a Plus Code.
- Click the coordinates (such as 49.475019, 17.116156) displayed in the info box at the bottom.
- Hover your mouse over the plus code in the left pane.
- Click the copy button to copy the generated Plus Code to the clipboard.
To Generate A Plus Code On A Mobile Device
- Launch the Google Maps app.
- Drop a pin at the location for which you want to generate a Plus Code.
- Tap the “Dropped pin” panel at the bottom.
- Find the Plus Code beside the Plus Code logo.
- Tap the Plus Code to copy it to the clipboard.
Alternatively, you can use the map on the official website of Plus Code to quickly generate a Plus Code for any location with a street address.
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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