Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa carried out the country’s first international Visa card transaction on Wednesday, paying for coffee at a restaurant in the historic district of Damascus a day after Washington formally removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
A video released by Syria’s Foreign Ministry showed al-Sharaa seated with Central Bank of Syria Governor Mohammed Safwat Raslan as he tapped a Visa card to complete the payment. “Will that be cash or credit, Mr. President?” the ministry wrote in a social media post accompanying the footage, noting that such a transaction had been impossible for more than fifteen years.
Visa said in a statement that it worked with the Central Bank of Syria and partners Fransabank Lebanon and Paymera, a local payments company, to carry out the transaction, describing it as the first successful live test of an international card-based payment on its network within the country. The arrangement follows an agreement Visa signed with Syria’s central bank in December.
Raslan called the moment “a new beginning,” saying in a social media post that witnessing the payment the day after Syria’s delisting was “a feeling that’s hard to sum up in words.”
The removal from the terrorism sponsor list marks a significant shift in U.S. policy toward Damascus under al-Sharaa’s transitional government, which took power after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. President Donald Trump first signaled his intention to lift sanctions on Syria during a visit to Riyadh in May 2025, where he met al-Sharaa. Washington has said the delisting could help Syria attract foreign investment and support its economic recovery.
Syria’s financial reintegration has proceeded incrementally over the past year, including its first international electronic funds transfer via SWIFT and a trial rollout of Visa and Mastercard payment infrastructure at a ceremony in Damascus in May. Officials say the technical groundwork is now in place, though widespread card issuance and merchant adoption across the country remain the next steps.
