Al -Jazeera Net Correspondents
Under the pressure of the economic deterioration experienced by the Syrian citizen, the Ministry of Finance launched a new initiative to transfer the salaries of workers in the public sector into an electronic formula through the application of “Sham Cash”.
The initiative, which is presented as a step in the direction of “digital transformation” and “promoting transparency”, has sparked a difference in reactions between those who saw a necessary technical leap, and between those who considered it an additional burden on the shoulders of the ordinary employee.
The application between facilitation and confusion
As of May 2025, the Ministry of Finance obligated accountants of public authorities to transfer salaries into bank accounts linked to the application of “Sham Cash”, which means that thousands of employees have been required to use this platform to receive their salaries from the contracting centers of transfer, such as “the pyramid” and “heart”, or the use of balances for electronic payment.
Some of them have already started receiving their salaries through the application since late April, while others have stuck to the traditional way because of technical reasons or not downloading the application.
The reactions to the experiment varied between cautious welcome and explicit reservations. Some employees saw that the move would reduce the pressure on the automatic cashiers and facilitate the process of access to the salary, while others expressed their fear of deducting commissions or a victim of organizational problems or digital security gaps.
Mustafa Al -Ahmad, an employee of the Education Directorate, says that he is still hesitant in dealing with the application after he received warning messages stating attempts to penetrate accounts from unknown parties. He explained, in his interview with “Al -Jazeera Net”, that he prefers the traditional way to receive his salary in light of what he described as a “non -prepared environment” for this type of services, noting that the majority of shops are still dealing in cash, while electronic payment is limited to some Internet and electricity services.
Al -Ahmad adds that the application stopped working for 3 consecutive days as a result of technical breakdowns, which caused a number of users to be deprived of withdrawing their salaries during that period. He pointed out that there are those who deposit in application large sums of up to thousands of dollars, which increases their concern about the future of their money and safety.
Technical difficulties and supportive certificates
The experiment was also not easy for those who faced technical difficulties, especially in areas that suffer from weakness in Internet services and communication networks, which affects the efficiency of the application, especially in peak times. However, others consider it a qualitative step towards developing electronic payment structure, and they see a tool to encourage shops to adopt non -cash payment.
For his part, Osama Othman, who is the owner of a commercial company, believes that the application has become increasingly confident, and that the demand for it is increasing, considering that electronic payment may turn within a few months to the preferred payment method in Syria. He adds that the application has become safer than before, and provides services such as conversion between users without any fees, and also allows to withdraw money from exchange offices without additional costs, if the recipient chooses to pay in cash.
It is noteworthy that “Sham Cash” was launched in northern Syria several months ago, and allows users to pay electricity, water and the Internet bills, in addition to buying from restaurants and stores, and transferring salaries and money between individuals, without imposing wages on financial transfers. The application is linked to “Sham Bank”, which is a financial institution based in Idlib, which was previously known as “Al -Waseet Financial Transfers Company”, and users are allowed to review the bank in the event that money is not possible to withdraw or technical problems occur in the application.
Security development efforts and warnings
Mohamed Al -Youssef, one of the technicians working in the application team, explained in his interview with “Al -Jazeera Net” that work continues to develop safety features and ease of use. The interior design of the application was recently updated, and the “Al -Haram” and “Al -Fouad” companies added within the clouds network, with advanced safety options such as closing the application by fingerprint or secret number, in addition to new features such as hiding the balance, day and night use interfaces, and multiple language options suitable for users who are not Arabic speakers.
Al -Youssef adds that work is underway to improve technical performance, especially in areas that suffer from poor internet service, noting that there are future plans to expand the base of users by increasing the number of commercial partners and the services available through the platform.
But on the other hand, the technical support team in the application launched warnings of repeated fraud attempts, which are fake groups that solve the status of “technical support” on social media, and targets users – especially women – by requesting sensitive information such as e -mail and password, for the purpose of penetrating accounts and blackmailing the victims by publishing special contents. The team stressed that official support does not request any personal information through the media, and that the authorities that do so belong to fraudulent networks that must be reported.
