News
Visa And Whish Money Partner To Expand Digital Payments In Lebanon
The first-of-its-kind partnership enables Whish Money to integrate Visa’s payment tech, advancing secure, scalable fintech solutions for over a million users.
Visa has entered a strategic partnership with Lebanon-based fintech Whish Money to enhance digital payment capabilities across Lebanon and international markets. The collaboration, announced at Whish Money’s newly opened campus in Beirut, positions the fintech company to integrate Visa’s advanced technologies into its platform — bringing improved speed, security, and global reach to its more than 1 million users.
The partnership marks a regional milestone: it is the first time Visa has partnered with an e-wallet provider in the Levant. Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for North Africa, Levant, and Pakistan, described the alliance as one rooted in shared values of trust and innovation. She emphasized that Visa’s vast global network — spanning over 200 countries — will help accelerate Whish Money’s international expansion.
Whish Money, which has already established a global footprint, sees this agreement as a major step in its evolution. CEO and co-founder Toufic Koussa called the deal a “significant milestone,” citing the fintech’s strong compliance and security infrastructure as key enablers. He also noted Visa’s rigorous due diligence process as a sign of confidence in Whish Money’s operational maturity.
Also Read: The Most AI-Proof Career Opportunities In The Middle East
By embedding Visa’s digital payments infrastructure, the partnership will allow Whish Money to offer more seamless, efficient, and secure services — bolstering its standing in both domestic and global markets. The two companies plan to jointly raise the bar for fintech innovation, particularly in regions where reliable digital financial services remain underdeveloped.
As Lebanon’s fintech ecosystem gains momentum, collaborations like this signal a broader trend: global payments leaders are increasingly looking to regional innovators to co-create the next generation of digital financial solutions.
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
RØDE’s New DS3 Studio Arm Is Built For Heavier Creator Setups
Dubai Turns AI On Its Own Civil Service To Measure Productivity
Former Rockstar Director Dismisses GTA 6 Leaks As “Nothing Burger”
Qatar Airways Flies The World’s First Starlink-Equipped 787-9
Spotify Will Now Tell You If Your Favorite Artist Isn’t Real
Instagram Redraws Its Wordmark And The Internet Reads “Instagzam”
Anghami’s New Elite Program Starts With A Three-Decade Catalog
Qatar Is Getting Its First EV Plant, Built To Cope With Gulf Heat
Dubai’s aradus Wants AI To Run The Back Office Of Physical Trade
-
News3 weeks agoInstagram Redraws Its Wordmark And The Internet Reads “Instagzam”
-
News3 weeks agoAnghami’s New Elite Program Starts With A Three-Decade Catalog
-
News3 weeks agoQatar Is Getting Its First EV Plant, Built To Cope With Gulf Heat
-
News3 weeks agoDubai’s aradus Wants AI To Run The Back Office Of Physical Trade