Militias exploit Visa, MasterCard as card transactions surge in Iraq, WSJ says

Iraq’s cross-border transactions using Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) skyrocketed to $1.5B from from $50M in April 2023 after U.S. authorities shut down a major wire transfer loophole previously exploited by militias and Iran, The Wall Street Journal’s David S. Cloud reported on Friday. Militia groups quickly shifted to exploiting card networks, aided by weak oversight and corruption among Iraqi card issuers-some with direct militia ties, Cloud wrote, adding that Visa and MasterCard inadvertently fueled the surge by incentivizing local partners to expand card use without sufficient fraud controls.