Visa to Help Syria Build Digital Payments Ecosystem

Visa is attempting to help Syria build a digital payments ecosystem and integrate into the global digital economy.

The company formed a partnership with the Central Bank of Syria and financial authorities and institutions, and it will launch operations in the country to support a phased digitization plan, according to a Thursday (Dec. 4) press release.

Visa will work with licensed financial institutions to develop a payments foundation that includes payment cards and digital wallets that use global standards; with merchants to enable acceptance through the Visa Acceptance Platform; and with local entrepreneurs to build and scale new payment solutions and connect them with the company’s regional and global FinTech partners, the release said.

The company will also invest in programs that build capacity and develop local talent, per the release.

“A reliable and transparent payment system is the bedrock of economic recovery and a catalyst that builds the confidence required for broader investment to flow into the country,” Leila Serhan, senior vice president, North Africa, Levant and Pakistan at Visa, said in the release. “This partnership is about choosing a new path, where Syria can leapfrog decades of legacy infrastructure development and immediately adopt the secure, open platforms that power modern commerce.”

Central Bank of Syria Governor Abdulkader Husrieh said in the release: “The vision presented by Visa offers a powerful path forward to accelerate our modernization agenda, enhance transparency and provide our people and businesses with the tools they need to rebuild and thrive. This partnership marks a new chapter of hope and opportunity for the Syrian economy.”

Husrieh wrote in a November post on LinkedIn that he met in Washington with Oliver Jenkyn, group president for global markets at Visa, and that they discussed the prospects of Visa entering the Syrian market.

“This meeting is part of a series of engagements the Central Bank of Syria is holding with international partners, aimed at leveraging global best practices and promoting financial innovation in alignment with national objectives to advance financial inclusion and improve the quality of banking services,” Husrieh wrote in the post.

It was reported in June that Syria made its first international bank transfer via the Swift system since 2011, the year the country’s civil war broke out.

Husrieh told Reuters at the time: “The door is now open to more such transactions.”