News

Yango App Now Alerts Muslim Drivers To Prayer Times

The latest update caters to the unique needs of Muslim drivers across several MENA countries, including the UAE and Morocco.

Published

2 years ago

April 2, 2024

Nour Nasir

Yango

Ride-hailing platform Yango has added a new feature to its app aimed at helping drivers stick to their prayer schedules throughout the Muslim calendar. In addition, the update will also facilitate the distribution of Iftar boxes during the important Ramadan fast. The latest feature is available to all Yango drivers in the UAE, Morocco, and several other locations.

Launched during the current holy month of Ramadan, the new app features allow drivers to seamlessly integrate their work schedules with religious duties, using high-tech mapping and smart routing to identify the nearest mosques and plot routes even in unfamiliar locations.

yango app muslim prayer times

Within the Yango app settings, drivers will receive 15-minute reminders before prayer times, with notifications automatically muted when prayers commence. The app also points drivers in the direction of the Qibla and allows prayer times to be calculated according to the user’s preferred Islamic convention.

Islam Abdul Karim, General Manager of Yango in the Gulf Coast Countries, explained: “The introduction of the new mode for drivers, permanent beyond the Ramadan period, is a step forward in our ongoing effort to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for partners’ drivers. It enriches their work-life balance, blending advanced technology with local customs and practices. We are keen to not only enhance their daily experience but also set standards for cultural consideration within the tech industry”.

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As a token of appreciation for the hard work and dedication of its drivers during Ramadan, Yango has also set up a dedicated zone to distribute special Iftar boxes, ensuring drivers on the road can break their fast.

Yango’s updated driver app joins a full suite of services from the company, including Yango Maps, Yango Play, Yango Tech, Arabic AI voice assistant Yasmina, and many more.

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

1 week 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.