“TerraPay Partners with OMT to Streamline Cross-Border Payments for Lebanese Businesses”

Lebanese businesses may soon catch a bit of a break when it comes to cross-border payments, thanks to a fresh partnership between TerraPay and OMT. If you’ve ever seen business owners here wrestle with international fees or long bank delays—well… I mean, that’s hardly news. But now, TerraPay, which is widely known for its global money movement tech, has teamed up with Lebanon’s very own financial heavyweight, OMT, with the aim of simplifying and turbo-charging those tricky international transactions.

What does this look like on the ground? The plan is to offer a robust online portal where local enterprises can send funds, track payments in real time, and get the kind of financial reporting that would make even the most old-school accountant smile. More importantly, they’re promising price-competitive rates and full compliance with international standards—no more worrying about red tape grinding things to a halt.

Bassem Awada, Senior Vice President at TerraPay, described the deal as a way to “give enterprises the tools they need to transact internationally with confidence, speed, and compliance.” Sounds spot on, especially in a market where paperwork and delays can really be a faff. Over at OMT, CEO Naji Abou Zeid pointed out that this new approach lets Lebanese firms source materials or settle invoices with global partners “at the speed and standard of today’s interconnected economy.” To be honest, I reckon that’s what a lot of smaller businesses here have been hoping for—some even holding off on export plans due to payment hassles.

The bigger picture? Both groups say this partnership isn’t just about smoother payments—it’s about supporting financial inclusion and unlocking the global market for Lebanese businesses of all sizes. That sort of goal is right up Arageek’s street; we’ve long championed tools that help startups get a foot in the door internationally, and this kind of news always gives me a bit of a buzz as someone who’s spent more than a couple of late nights talking to founders about these exact problems.

A quick peek at the main players: TerraPay, based in London but with a presence as far afield as Bangalore, Dubai, and Bogotá, connects payment corridors in more than 30 markets. It handles transactions for upwards of 12 billion cards and almost 4 billion mobile wallets—numbers that sound wild, but in fairness, that’s the world we live in now. OMT, meanwhile, has roots dating back to 1998 and runs the country’s largest retail channel—not to mention their OMT Visa Card and OMT Pay app, which have already helped digitise payment services in Lebanon.

Of course, fancy portals and global connections are all well and good, but I’m not a fan of overblown promises. The proof, as always, will be in the pudding when Lebanese businesses test out the system for themselves. On the flip side, with this kind of heavyweight collaboration, it’s hard not to be a little bit chuffed to bits for our region’s entrepreneurs—let’s hope it’s the real deal.

If you’re one of those keep-an-eye-on-the-horizon sorts, this seems like a development to watch closely. Financial inclusion here still has a long way to go. But whatever happens next, one thing’s for sure: it’s never dull in the world of MENA startups.

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