Visa and Mastercard completed their first live international card transactions in Syria on August 26, two days after the United States removed Syria from its State Sponsor of Terrorism list. Syria's central bank told Reuters that the transactions began international card payment services after months of technical preparation, but that coverage was not nationwide.

The launches reconnect specific acquiring banks and approved merchants to the global card networks. They do not mean that every internationally issued card will be accepted across Syria or that the country's banks have fully restored foreign correspondent relationships.

Visa tested a live transaction through Fransabank and Paymera

Visa said on August 26 that it had tested its first live international transaction in Syria with Fransabank Lebanon as the acquiring institution and Paymera as the payment technology partner. The company said the test was intended to support future use of Visa cards by international visitors.

An acquiring institution handles the merchant side of a card payment and connects it to the card network. Visa's announcement demonstrates that this route processed a live transaction, but it does not give a merchant count, coverage area or list of issuing banks whose cards can be used.

Mastercard and QNB completed an approved merchant transaction

Mastercard said on August 27 that QNB Syria had processed the country's first international card payment in more than 15 years. An internationally issued Mastercard was used at a point-of-sale terminal operated by an eligible approved local merchant.

The transaction shows that the connected Mastercard route processed a point-of-sale payment at one approved merchant. Mastercard's release does not publish a national rollout date, the number of participating merchants or transaction-volume data.

Merchant acceptance will expand in phases

QNB said its system allowed eligible merchants in Syria, including hotels, restaurants and government entities, to accept international Mastercard credit cards through its terminals. Merchants would be added gradually under a phased rollout subject to regulatory approval.

The Central Bank of Syria told Reuters that it was rebuilding correspondent banking relationships and expanding official channels for cross-border transfers and payments. It said full restoration would still require work on compliance, governance, risk management, cybersecurity and regulatory oversight, and it gave no timetable.

APPI News could not find public data on the number or location of live terminals or a list of issuing banks that support transactions in Syria at the time of writing. The published material also does not establish whether cash withdrawals, online payments or cards issued in every market are supported.

US policy removed one barrier but retained targeted sanctions

The US State Department rescinded Syria's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism on August 24. The decision removed a country-level measure that had increased legal and compliance risks for banks, but it did not eliminate separate list-based sanctions.

Syria's central bank told Reuters that the card launches were not tied to a single political decision because technical, regulatory and compliance work had begun months earlier. It said the removal of US restrictions and designations had improved conditions for international banks and financial technology companies.

The US Treasury says it no longer maintains comprehensive sanctions on Syria or blocking sanctions on the Syrian government. It continues to impose list-based sanctions on former President Bashar al-Assad and his associates, human rights abusers, Captagon drug traffickers, people linked to Syria's past proliferation activities, Islamic State and Al-Qaida affiliates, and Iran and its proxies.

Removing the countrywide measures therefore does not eliminate checks against blocked people and entities. The US changes also do not determine the laws, bank controls or card-issuer policies that apply in every other country.

Nationwide availability remains unverified

The public evidence supports a narrow conclusion: each network processed a live international transaction through a specified local route. It does not show that international cards now work at most Syrian merchants or that service will be continuous.

The next measurable steps would be published merchant numbers, geographic coverage, supported transaction types and a timetable for restoring correspondent banking links. None of the companies or Syrian authorities cited in this report had published all of those details at the time of writing.