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Qashio And YallaCompare Launch “Qashio Insurance”
The platform is a trailblazing Digital Health Solution for SMEs that aims to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
Qashio, a fintech company that provides an expense management and corporate card platform, is launching “Qashio Insurance” in partnership with YallaCompare. The branded health insurance product is a cost-effective solution with a simplified and automated digital declaration process, which takes under a minute to complete.
Qashio Insurance is the only digital-first health insurance package for SMEs of all sizes, from freelancers to 25,000-employee corporations. The platform enables applications to be processed ten times faster than conventional methods, many of which still rely on paper and physical signatures.
In addition to improved efficiency, Qashio Insurance offers up to 25% more affordable rates compared to the rest of the market. The platform has three tiers of coverage, allowing businesses to find the right plan to suit their unique needs, as well as an installment payment option.
Armin Moradi, Co-founder and CEO of Qashio said, “Qashio is privileged to be able to support the growing SME sector with Qashio Insurance, further simplifying otherwise complicated and lengthy processes. Qashio’s mission is to empower SMEs with a streamlined, cost-effective way to manage their health insurance needs. The platform that has taken close to a year to develop is a testament to our dedication to innovation and our unwavering support for SMEs as well as Enterprises”.
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Luke Craven, CCO of YallaCompare, added, “The launch of Qashio Insurance represents a significant milestone in our journey to provide comprehensive, user-friendly, and efficient services. Our partnership with Qashio embodies the synergy of expertise and shared vision”.
The MENA health and medical insurance market is currently undergoing significant growth. Driven by an expanding population and demographic shifts, the UAE now has over 557,000 SMEs, all of which must provide health insurance to employees and their dependents.
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.
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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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