Stakeholders from Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, and Lebanon gather in Beirut to explore how AI, security, and partnership can unlock growth across the region.
Beirut, Lebanon, February 12, 2026: Visa (NYSE: V), a world leader in digital payments today hosted Visa Connect, a two-day market focused client event in Beirut. Under the theme “Connected Futures”, the event welcomed over 250 participants from across five different markets and convened senior executives and ecosystem players to explore how partnership, innovation, and local relevance can shape the next chapter of commerce across the region.
This year’s edition places a strong emphasis on showcasing how Visa’s global technology, combined with local market insights, can accelerate financial inclusion, enable smarter commerce, and unlock new opportunities for businesses and consumers. Attendees were also able to test out a variety of Visa’s innovative products and solutions onsite.
Hosted in Beirut, the event opened with remarks from Mario Makary, Country Manager for the Levant, and Malak El Baba, Country Manager for Egypt and featured sessions by Visa’s senior leadership and a series of panel discussions and fireside chats with high profile external speakers such as, Ashraf Sabry, CEO of Fawry; Maher Mikati, CEO, Areeba; Mounir Nakhla, CEO, MNT Halan; Dr. Nabil AlNasser, General Manager, Al Wasleh and Nour Taher, CEO, Intella.
Leila Serhan, SVP & Group Country Manager, Visa NALP, remarked, “Bringing together our clients from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine and of course, Lebanon, is important as we set the tone for the year ahead for banks, fintechs, regulators, and merchants from across the region to learn from each other and unlock growth at scale. Visa Connect is a key platform for dynamic networking and knowledge exchange, fostering discussions that harness Visa’s global and regional insights to deliver innovative solutions for local needs. We are deeply energized by the dialogues at Visa Connect Lebanon and the collective progress we are poised to achieve in shaping the region’s digital ecosystem.”
Visa is committed to building a future where everyone has access to secure, convenient ways to pay and be paid through innovation in payments technology, strategic investments and collaboration with partners and clients.