Circular No. 767

To Banks, Financial Institutions, Lebanese and Foreign Companies Licensed to Issue Payment or Debit or Credit Cards, and to Institutions Operating Point-of-Sale (POS) Networks.

We place in your hands a copy of Central Bank Decision No. 13823 dated May 21, 2026, concerning the amendment of Basic Decision No. 7299 dated June 10, 1999 (ATMs and Credit and Payment Cards), attached to Basic Circular No. 63.

Beirut, May 21, 2026
Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon
Karim Saeed

Central Bank Decision No. 13823

Amendment to Basic Decision No. 7299 dated June 10, 1999 Concerning ATMs and Credit and Payment Cards

The Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, pursuant to the Monetary and Loan Law, particularly Articles 70 and 174 thereof, and pursuant to Law No. 133 dated October 26, 1999, concerning the functions of the Central Bank of Lebanon, and based on Basic Decision No. 7299 dated June 10, 1999, and its amendments concerning ATMs and Credit and Payment Cards, and in light of the resolution adopted by the Central Council of the Central Bank of Lebanon during its session held on May 21, 2026, hereby decides as follows:

Article One: The following text is added to Basic Decision No. 7299 dated June 10, 1999 as "Repeated Article One":

Repeated Article One:

1. Banks and financial institutions, exclusively, may provide the card acquiring and issuance service (Acquiring and Issuance Card), which includes issuing bank cards, contracting with merchants to enable them to accept card payments, processing transactions on these cards, and settling and paying their amounts.
2. Banks must notify the Central Bank of Lebanon in advance before undertaking the card issuance service (Card Issuance).
3. Banks and financial institutions must obtain a license from the Central Bank of Lebanon to provide the Card Issuance and Acquiring service, subject to the following conditions:
   1. Allocating an amount of 55 billion Lebanese Lira from their own funds to provide the (Acquiring and Issuance Card) service, and an amount of 50 billion Lebanese Lira for banks providing the card issuance (Issuance Card) service only. Provided that an amount equivalent to 15% of the allocated amount for these services (i.e., LL 2,500,000,000 for both card issuance and acquiring services, and LL 750,000,000 for the card issuance service) is deposited in cash into a dedicated Lebanese Lira account at the Central Bank of Lebanon, and this amount is not returned to the concerned banks and financial institutions until they cease providing the service.
   2. Maintaining sufficient liquidity on an ongoing basis to meet all settlement obligations in the respective currencies, amounting to no less than the average daily settlement liabilities calculated on a monthly basis, plus a precautionary liquidity margin of 20%. The Central Bank may impose additional percentages or liquidity margins depending on transaction volume and associated risk levels.
   3. Adopting suitable card management systems (Card Management System - CMS).
   4. Complying with payment card security standards (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard – PCI DSS).
   5. Joining as a member of international payment card networks (e.g., Mastercard/Visa) and complying with their adopted technical and security standards.
   6. Adopting specific procedures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing arising from payment card transactions.
   7. Providing the necessary infrastructure to accept payments, execute settlement operations, monitor merchant activity, classify their risks, take continuous due diligence measures regarding them, and manage payment recall operations and settle resulting disputes.
4. Banks and financial institutions must pay the Central Bank of Lebanon an annual fee of:
   • LL 3,000,000,000 (Three billion Lebanese Lira) for providing the card issuing and acquiring (Card Issuance and Acquiring) service;
   • LL 1,000,000,000 (One billion Lebanese Lira) for banks providing the card issuance (Issuance Card) service only.
     This fee is paid for the first time upon obtaining the license and subsequently before January 31 of each year, under penalty of revocation of the related license.
5. Banks and financial institutions that provide, before May 1, 2026, the services subject to this Article are granted a maximum deadline of June 30, 2026:
   • To notify the Central Bank of Lebanon about providing this service and complying with the conditions stated in "Third" of this Article.
   • To pay the fee mentioned in "Fourth" of this Article.
   • To deposit, in cash at the Central Bank of Lebanon, the 15% amount mentioned in Item (1) under "Third" of this Article.

Article Two: This Decision takes effect immediately upon its issuance.
Article Three: This Decision is published in the Official Gazette.

Beirut, May 21, 2026
Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon
Karim Saeed