Receiving Money in Syria: Currency, Rate and Pickup

Which currency your family is actually paid in

Almost every guide written for senders ends at the moment the money arrives. That is the moment the real questions begin, and the first is the currency. As verified on 17 September 2026, the beneficiary in Syria may choose: Syrian pounds or foreign currency.

That rule is recent. On 21 April 2026 the Central Bank of Syria issued decision 235/L, which required licensed banks, exchange houses and money transfer companies to pay out all incoming international transfers in Syrian pounds only. On 7 June 2026 the first article of that decision was amended, and the change was announced the next day: payout is now made in Syrian pounds or in foreign currency, according to the beneficiary's wish and the capabilities available to the paying institution. The amendment covers transfers arriving through Western Union, MoneyGram, Shift and bank channels alike.

The phrase that decides real outcomes is the last one. The right belongs to the beneficiary; the execution depends on what is physically in the branch's drawer on the day. If that office has no foreign banknotes in the denominations needed, the practical answer is pounds, or a second trip. This is why a rule that reads like free choice still produces pound payouts in a large share of cases.

For a sender abroad this sets a sequencing rule: settle the currency question before you send, not after. Ask your relative to confirm with the branch they intend to use what it is paying out that week, then choose the channel accordingly. Once the transfer is sitting under a reference number, the options have narrowed to what that counter can do.

The rate applied at payout, and why the amount shrinks

When the payout is made in pounds, it is not converted at the market rate. The original decision set the reference as the Central Bank's official bulletin mid-rate plus a defined margin. For most household-sized transfers this single mechanism costs more than the transfer fee you paid at the sending end, and it is invisible on the sender's receipt.

Here are the numbers verified today. Official bulletin no. 173, issued on 17 September 2026, prices the US dollar at 121.50 new Syrian pounds buy and 122.50 sell, with a 2% movement margin. In the market, the dollar traded at about 134.75 buy and 135.25 sell on 16 September, and SYPNow's live rates page showed the same level on 17 September.

The gap is not a constant, which is the part most comparison sites get wrong. On 6 September the market was near 131.75, about 7.5% away from the bulletin. Ten days later the distance had widened to roughly 10% while the official bulletin had not moved by a single pound. So the figure that matters to your family is today's gap, not a percentage quoted in an article written last month.

The Central Bank has meanwhile been narrowing its own band: during 2026 it cut the price-movement margin allowed to banks and exchange companies from 15% to 9%, and its September 2026 bulletins carry a 2% movement margin. Tightening the official band disciplines pricing inside the official channel, but it does not close the distance to the market, because that distance is produced by supply and demand.

The table below applies both rates to a $500 transfer, excluding the fee and FX margin charged at the sending end, which stack on top. The rate types page (official vs parallel vs reference rates) explains the distinction, and the methodology page (how SYPNow collects its rates) sets out how SYPNow compiles what it publishes.

Rates of 17 September 2026: official bulletin 121.50 buy / 122.50 sell; market 134.75 buy. Illustrative arithmetic only. It excludes sending fees and any commission deducted by the paying institution, and the figures move daily.

New pound, old pound: make sure the number means what you think

Syria redenominated its currency on 1 January 2026, removing two zeros: 100 old pounds became one new pound, and bank and electronic balances were converted to the new issue.

For anyone collecting a transfer now, the important part is that co-circulation is over. Old banknotes lost their power to settle obligations and stopped circulating on 31 July 2026. Since then they can only be exchanged through the Central Bank of Syria in Damascus, over a five-year window, in submissions of at least 100 notes of the same denomination, with the value credited to a bank account in new pounds and no fees charged. In practice: your relative should not accept old notes at the counter.

The habit of quoting prices in old-pound units, however, has not disappeared from everyday speech. When someone in Damascus says the dollar is at thirteen and a half thousand, they mean roughly 135 new pounds. The two numbers describe the same value. This is the single most common source of confusion between a sender reading one figure online and a relative hearing another one in a shop.

Ask for the receipt amount in new pounds, and convert between the issues with the redenomination calculator (old-to-new pound calculator) before agreeing to a figure quoted verbally.

Where your relative collects, and what they must bring

Incoming international transfers are paid out by three kinds of institution: banks licensed to deal in foreign currency, licensed exchange companies, and licensed money transfer companies acting as agents for the international network. Payout outside those channels is not part of the regulated system.

You will not find branch names or an office count on this page. Those lists change from month to month, and publishing a stale one is worse than publishing none. Use two references instead: the list of licensed exchange institutions published by the Central Bank of Syria, and the location finder on the transfer network's own site.

• The reference or control number exactly as issued, the sender's full name as entered at the sending end, the sending country, and the amount and currency.
• An original, valid identity document for the beneficiary: national ID card or passport. Photos and photocopies are normally refused.
• Attendance in person by the named beneficiary. Collection by someone else is not a general right; it depends on what the paying institution permits and the documents it requires.
• An exact name match between the transfer and the ID. A mismatch in the Latin spelling of an Arabic name is the most common reason a payout stalls, and it is fixed by the sender, not at the counter.
• Confirmation that the network has coverage in the specific governorate. An agent in Damascus or Aleppo does not imply an agent in every town or rural district.
• The currency, the rate and the commission asked about before signing, not after.
• A receipt showing the original amount and currency, the rate applied, and every deduction. Without it there is nothing to dispute later.

The informal route: what it saves and what it costs

A significant share of money still reaches Syria outside the licensed channel, through traditional broker networks that hand over cash inside the country against a payment made abroad. The reason is not secrecy or habit. It is the arithmetic in the table above: a payout that never passes through the official bulletin lands much closer to the market rate.

That advantage is real, and so is its price. The honest comparison is not between two exchange rates. It is between a rate and a remedy.

What sanctions relief changed, and what it did not

The external legal framework has changed almost completely in fourteen months. Executive Order 14312, signed on 30 June 2025 and effective 1 July 2025, terminated the comprehensive US sanctions program on Syria and unblocked persons listed solely under the revoked orders. The Caesar Act was repealed on 18 December 2025. On 24 August 2026 the State Sponsor of Terrorism designation was rescinded, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was removed from the SDN list, and General License 25 was revoked.

What did not change matters more at the counter. Correspondent banking is still being rebuilt. The Central Bank sent its first SWIFT messages to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in November 2025, and the first international commercial bank transfers since the war followed. But until major international banks open working correspondent lines to Syrian banks, the account-to-account route stays narrow, which is why cash collection remains the norm for most families.

Targeted designations also remain in force against specific individuals and entities, so compliance screening continues at the sending end. That is why a transfer can still be delayed or trigger a request for extra documents even though the comprehensive program is gone.

Cards are back, but only just

On 27 August 2026 Visa and Mastercard processed their first international card transactions in Syria in more than fifteen years. QNB Group and Mastercard completed what was described as the first end-to-end international card payment in the country, and Visa tested its first live transaction with Lebanon-based Fransabank.

The official language around it was deliberately careful, and it should be read as stated: this is the beginning of the service, coverage is not nationwide, and eligible merchants are being added gradually, subject to regulatory approvals. For a family receiving money, it does not yet mean a relative abroad can top up a Syrian card, nor that a given shop will accept one. Treat acceptance as something to confirm merchant by merchant. The cards and banking page (Visa and Mastercard in Syria) tracks what is actually live.

Before you press send

• Ask the receiving branch which currency it is paying out in this week, before you send rather than after.
• Compare the official bulletin rate and the market rate on the same day (live exchange rates) so you know the size of the gap instead of guessing it.
• Ask for the payout amount in new pounds in writing, and check any figure quoted in old units with old-to-new pound calculator.
• Confirm the Latin spelling of your relative's name against their ID before sending, not after the transfer is sitting at the counter.
• Keep the reference number and the receipt after collection, not only until it.
• Compare at least two sending options: the true cost is the fee plus the rate difference, never the fee alone. Channels are compared on the send money to Syria page (guide to sending money to Syria).

Frequently asked questions

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