Visa has partnered with the International Bank of Somalia (IBS Bank) to launch Somalia’s first Visa card payment service. Then a year later in June 2015, MasterCard became the first international payment network to enter the Somalia market in partnership with Premier Bank and issued 5,000 debit cards to be used by Premier Bank account holders, for domestic transactions. According to Somalia’s Central Bank Governor, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, the Visa partnership will connect Somalia to the global financial system and show the growing confidence in the country’s banking and finance sector.