No. You can’t use MasterCard in Iran. Due to sanctions, Iran is forbidden to make any USD/EURO transaction to International banking system So, MasterCard in Iran is not accepted nor Credit card and Visa Card or any other debit cards. You can use Iran debit card like IntravelCard instead of MasterCard in Iran.
What is the solution? What you can do?
Why Visa Card is not accepted in Iran?
Why MasterCard /Credit Card doesn’t work in Iran?
How can you transfer money to Iran?
These are the questions that every tourists might ask before they travel to Iran and we would love to help you with.
Iran is a cash country without MasterCard in Iran
Iran is a cash country especially for tourists who visit Iran. The only major issue that tourists are going to face is the cash problem. Due to US sanctions against Iran, tourists can’t find any international bank in Iran.
In order to use your Credit Card or Visa/MasterCard in Iran; Iran has to join the international banking system and then you can make payments using your MasterCard in Iran. Although you can’t use your MasterCard/Visa Card in Iran; but there are alternative ways to face this issue.
The worst option is to forget about your MasterCard or Credit Card and carry cash in Iran. In the opposite way when Iranian travel around the world, they have a big problem with this Credit Card/MasterCard issue. They can not use any Credit Card or Visa Card anywhere in the world, so they carry cash all along during their trip.
These two solutions will help while MasterCard in Iran won’t work neither Credit Card /Visa Card
While other countries are not so welcome to Iranians when it comes to sanctions, Iran wants to make better time for tourists and anyone who visits Iran. So if you want to use your Credit Card or MasterCard/Visa Card in Iran, you have two options:
1. Use an Iranian Prepaid Travel Card
You can use IntravelCard as an instance of your Credit Card or MasterCard in Iran. The IntravelCard is an Iranian prepaid Travel card which covers your payments in Iran. This is a local debit card that is issued by an Iranian bank. You can use it to shop at grocery stores, restaurants and online stores. Anywhere you can find a POS terminal which is very accessible in Iran, you can use this card and also even you can withdraw cash from ATMs.
The IntravelCard works the same as Visa Card or MasterCard in your home country. This card is joined with a nationwide banking system known as Shetab, so this Travel Card works all over Iran and you can shop like locals.
The IntravelCard is a Prepaid Travel card which issued to tourists. In order to make a better time for you when you travel to Iran and give you a better experience about your cash safety and other problem, IntravelCard agreed on a partnership with a trusting Iranian banks to issue a special travel card for tourists who visit Iran while they are not able to use their credit cards or MasterCard in Iran.
Money transfer to Iran!
Because of sanctions, it is so hard to transfer any money to Iran or transfer money from Iran to other countries. If you are in Iran and you don’t have enough money, it will be hard for you transfer money to Iran. You have different options like Bitcoin( it is accepted in Iran) and remittance which cost you a fortune!.
It is possible to add funds to IntravelCard using bitcoin or PayPal. We recommend to use bitcoin option because it has a lower commission rate than other ways. Learn more about IntravelCard.
2. Get a gift card in Iran
Get a gift card from bank kiosk and you can use it for shopping groceries, restaurant, online or even withdraw cash from ATMs. But gift cards have a limitation which is, you can’t load more than 5,000,000 Iranian Rials in it.
In Iran this is not a lot of money, it’s about 19$ which covers at most 1 days of your trip for 2 people if you are on an economic budget. We will explain more about pricing and your costs based on your budget in this article and you’ll understand that this is not a lot of money.
More about us
We as IntravelCard are a non-financial and financial service company. IntravelCard company tries its best to help every tourist in Iran to have a better time during his stay in Iran. We provide a local prepaid travel card and updated information about Iran sights, Iran currency, budget planning, Iran visa or anything that makes your trip easier.q
2 Comments
Excuse me
You mean my master card or visa card doesnt work in Iran?
No, The MasterCard and Visa Card doesn’t work in Iran. Because of sanctions your bank or any other international bank don’t have any connections with Iran.You have to carry cash if you want to visit Iran get our Prepaid Travel Card for your trip. You can load your money with great exchange rate into the card and shop like locals. You can get refund your remaining balance of the card in your original currency at any time. read more here