Local Personalization Accelerates Visa, Mastercard Delivery to 48 Hours

The Society for Interbank Transactions and Monetics (SATIM) in Algeria has achieved international certifications, allowing for the local personalization of Visa and Mastercard. This development, announced on October 27, 2026, by Toufik Chikaoui, SATIM's Project Director for international Visa and Mastercard networks, is projected to reduce the issuance time for these international bank cards to approximately 48 hours, a significant improvement over the current process which can take several weeks.

Previously, various operations necessary for preparing international bank cards were outsourced to foreign providers, contributing to extended delivery times for Algerian bank clients. With the new certifications, SATIM can now manage the personalization of these cards within Algeria, thereby limiting reliance on external services and enhancing control over banking data processing within the national territory. The initiative involves partnerships with Crédit Populaire d'Algérie (CPA) for Visa cards and Banque de Développement Local (BDL) for Mastercard.

While the local personalization is designed to bring down issuance times to around 48 hours, this timeframe is not yet universally applicable to all requests. The deployment strategy includes pilot phases, and an official date for general implementation has not been confirmed. This advancement occurs amid increased demand for international bank cards, particularly among Algerian travelers seeking to access the 750 euro tourist allowance, making the expedited issuance a potential facilitator for obtaining necessary payment methods before departure, though it does not modify the conditions for the allowance itself.