Women in business begin to shine in Lebanon

Randa Bdeir made her name in business among the ruins of post-war Beirut. In any era, post-war reconstruction is big business but while most in Lebanon made their money replacing what had been destroyed, Bdeir saw opportunity in what was never there to begin with–ATM machines. "While other countries were busy installing machines and getting cards out to customers, Lebanon was still at war," she tells The Media Line. Bdeir is the woman credited with bringing the ATM to Lebanon in the early 1990s, and later, with introducing credit cards. She is now head of Electronic Banking and Card Services at Bank Audi, Lebanon's largest consumer bank, and she is widely regarded as one of Lebanon's most successful and powerful businesswomen.