Lebanon counted 1,697,090 payment cards at the end of April 2026, according to statistics released by Banque du Liban (BDL). That is a drop of 0.99%, or 16,907 cards, from the 1,713,997 in circulation at the end of 2025. The figure covers debit, credit, charge, and prepaid cards combined.
Prepaid Cards Pull the Total Down
The decline came almost entirely from prepaid cards, which fell 13.47% in four months, shedding 48,668 cards to reach 312,588. Credit cards also edged down 0.97%, a loss of 668 cards, to 68,450.
Growth elsewhere softened the fall. Debit cards, the largest segment by far, rose 2.36% with 27,998 new cards, reaching 1.21 million. Charge cards climbed 4.56%, adding 4,431 cards to hit 101,533. In other words, Lebanese consumers are not abandoning cards: they are shifting away from prepaid products while everyday debit use keeps expanding.
Merchants Are Adding Terminals Fast
The strongest signal in the data sits on the merchant side. Electronic points of sale (POS) jumped by 4,004 terminals, a 17.91% rise since the start of the year, bringing the network to 26,361. A near 18% expansion in four months suggests more shops, restaurants, and service providers are accepting card payments, a notable move in an economy that has leaned heavily on cash since the 2019 financial crisis.
ATM Network Grows, but Stays Concentrated
The banking sector's ATM network grew 1.12% in the same period, adding 16 machines for a total of 1,448, up from 1,432 at the end of 2025.
Geographically, the network remains concentrated around the capital. Mount Lebanon holds the largest share with 565 ATMs, or 39.02% of the total, followed by Beirut and its suburbs with 455 machines (31.42%). The North hosts 160 ATMs (11.05%), the South 120 (8.29%), and the Bekaa 119 (8.22%). Nabatieh sits last with just 29 machines, 2.00% of the national network.
Taken together, the two central regions account for more than 70% of Lebanon's ATMs, leaving the rest of the country to share fewer than 430 machines.
