Uzbekistan 2025

Market Overview
Payment Organisation	National Interbank Payment System (UZKART).
Domestic Card Brand	UzCard cards.
Market Structure	Historically, more than 80% of cards issued were domestic-only UzCard cards using Duet smart card technology. Since 2015, UzCard cards have been issued as EMV cards branded with the new UzCard logo. From 2018, UzCards are co-badged with UnionPay. 2019 a new national payment card scheme, HUMO, was launched. International cards, mainly VISA-branded, have only a small presence in the market.  Although the state guarantees bank depositors’ funds, the vast majority of payments are in cash, reflecting widespread distrust of the banks. Agrobank and the National Bank of Uzbekistan are the dominant banks. With its diversified economy and solid growth rates, Uzbekistan’s economy is less dependent on international money transfers than some neighboring countries.
Notable Market Trends	Rollout of UzCard EMV cards, contactless cards, and POS terminals.  The effect of the increased digitization brought about by the pandemic resulted in a 43.4% rise in card transaction value in 2023. The number of remote banking users in 2023 was approximately 41 million, a growth of 46.99% from 2022.  As of the beginning of 2023, residents of Uzbekistan can legally engage in crypto transactions but only through licensed providers.
Major Card Issuers	Agrobank, National Bank of Uzbekistan, Xalq Bank, Asaka Bank.
Major Card Acquirers	Agrobank, Xalq Bank, National Bank of Uzbekistan, Ipoteka Bank.
Major Card Processors	Common Republican Processing Centre (CRPC), Uzpromstroybank, National Interbank Processing Centre.

Key Statistics
Population	36,799,800, 1.26 cards per capita
Cards	Total: 46,205,950
Card Transactions	n/a
POS Terminals	429,334
POS Payments	n/a
ATMs	26,655 (including self-service terminals).
ATM Withdrawals	n/a

Introduction – Payments in Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is one of the Asian countries in the Eurasian Yearbook. It is a unitary, constitutional, presidential republic comprising 12 provinces, one autonomous republic, and one capital city, Tashkent. Uzbekistan is bordered by five countries: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan. The country’s official language is Uzbek.

Uzbekistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Organisation for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM), and the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO).

Best known in Soviet times for its production of cotton, Uzbekistan has enjoyed robust GDP growth since the mid-2000s. The official aim is to make the transition to a more market-oriented economy and to become an industrialized, high-middle-income country by around 2050.

Uzbekistan went through its first transfer of power in 27 years after the death of its first president, Islam Karimov, on September 2, 2016. Newly elected President Shavkat Mirziyoyev declared that improvements to the business environment through liberalization measures in the banking sector, trade, currency conversion, tax administration, and fighting corruption were among top policy priorities.

Although card usage is widespread, Uzbekistan lags behind other countries in Eurasia in the uptake of digital payments, due to poor legacy infrastructure for telecoms and poor internet coverage. However, over the past decade, the adoption of policies geared towards increased digitization is accelerating digital payment transformation and mobile payment services, as well as cardless payments directly from bank accounts with instant payments.

Mobile payments in particular are helping Uzbek consumers leapfrog infrastructure issues, although most international digital wallets are not yet available. Domestic schemes such as UzCard, HUMO, and bank mobile apps are the predominant ways Uzbeks use mobile payments.

Uzbekistan is ripe for digitization, offering significant growth opportunities due to its large population and the low penetration of banking services among retail and SME business customers. In addition, it has a high level of smartphone penetration, which supports wider digital payments uptake.

Banking Sector

Established in 1992, the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan (CBU) is a state-owned independent legal entity operating by the Constitutional Law, the Law of the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Law on Banks of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Central Bank’s Credit Institutions Supervision Department supervises the banking sector within Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan remains highly centralized, with state enterprises accounting for 70% of total economic activity. The average inflation rate has fluctuated in recent years, accelerating from 8% year-on-year in 2016 to 14.4% by end-2017, 14.3% in 2018, 15.2% in 2019, and 12.9% in 2020, due to the government tightening credit to ease inflation. By 2021, inflation had fallen further to 10%.

In 2023, Uzbekistan’s inflation rate reached a seven-year low, dropping to 8.8% (compared to 12.3% in 2022) due to prudent monetary policies. The policies aimed to stabilize prices and manage inflation effectively. Notably, the main components of Uzbekistan’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) include Food Items (53.13%), Non-food Items (26.77%), and Services (20.1%). Additionally, in December 2023, Uzbekistan recorded an even lower inflation rate of 1.24%, marking the lowest official inflation rate since August 2016.

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had a major negative impact on macroeconomic stability, as well as major export goods to foreign markets, including precious metals, and quarantine restrictions affecting industrial output.

In 2019, the GDP of Uzbekistan grew by 5.7%, mainly driven by exports, industrial, manufacturing, and construction sectors. Commodity exports constituted around 50% of Uzbekistan’s exports in 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 the real GDP growth rate dropped to 1.9%, with the volume of industrial production decreasing by 21.9%. However, in 2021 Uzbekistan was one of only two major economies in the world to avoid recession, with GDP rebounding strongly at 7.4%, driven by investment inflows, rising household income, and tax breaks.

In 2023, Uzbekistan’s economy grew by 6%, fuelled by investment, private consumption, and exports. This impressive growth persisted, supported by strong external demand for Uzbek goods and labour, Exports rose by 31% year-on-year from January to July 2023. The Uzbek government implemented policies in 2023 like: Establishing an independent energy regulator, initiating energy tariff reforms, restructuring the state-owned rail operator and to mention a few.

KYC Registry – In January 2017, SWIFT announced that 13 banks in Uzbekistan signed up to use The KYC Registry. The banks that have signed up include Agrobank, Bank Asaka, Asia Alliance Bank, Infinbank, Aloqabank, Hamkorbank, Bank Ipak Yuli, National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Rep. Uzbekistan, Davr Bank, Qishloq Qurilish Bank, Xalq Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Trustbank, Uzbek Industrial and Construction Bank. In addition, six banks in Uzbekistan joined the 500+ banks already using SWIFT’s Sanctions Screening solution.

The communities in both countries join the 7,000 correspondent banks and funds players in over 200 countries and territories that are using the industry-owned compliance utility to standardize KYC management, increase effectiveness and efficiency, and demonstrate compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF) requirements.

In January 2020, SWIFT announced that multi-bank corporates now have secure access to the KYC Registry, helping to reduce lead time for KYC processes.

Structure

CBU and Uzbekistan’s Fund for Reconstruction and Development classify the country’s 33 commercial banks as follows: 12 banks with state ownership (4 fully state-owned, 8 partly state-owned), 15 private banks, and 6 banks with foreign capital. In addition, there were 165 non-bank credit institutions, including 83 microcredit organisations. In 2018 the state-owned Poytakht Bank entered the bank sector, followed by Tenge Bank, a subsidiary of Kazakh Halyk Bank, in May 2019. In January 2020, the CBU issued TBC Bank of Georgia with preliminary permission to establish a joint-stock commercial bank in Tashkent. To receive a banking license, TBC was required to incorporate a local subsidiary and fulfil its capital and technical requirements, according to the CBU. In 2020, TBC Bank of Georgia established a joint-stock commercial bank in Uzbekistan.

In 2023, there was a significant growth in bank customers, with 30 million out of the 36.80 million population classified as bank customers. This represents a sharp 22.7% increase in the customer base. Despite this growth, the number of bank accounts has been growing slowly in recent years.

By the end of 2023, the value of total bank assets in the whole country was equivalent to $51.37 billion. Included in this amount are the assets of the two largest state-owned banks, which together hold about $16.99 billion.

Although 33 commercial banks were carrying out banking operations in 832 branches, the numbers of bank customers and bank accounts have grown very slowly in recent years. However, in 2023, there was a sharp 47% growth in bank customers in Uzbekistan with 44.09 million of the 36.79 million population of Uzbek population being classified as bank customers according to central bank figures (see Table 2).

In 2023, the five largest banks – National Bank of Uzbekistan, Asaka Bank, Uzpromstroybank, Ipoteka Bank and Agrobank – account for 55.73% of the assets of the banking system. Other significant banks include Kapitalbank, Trustbank, and Ipak Yuli Bank.

Banks with state ownership control 67.74% of the banking sector assets. The five state-owned banks are the National Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU), Sanoatqurilishbank, Ipoteka Bank, Agrobank Bank, and Asaka Bank.

The six banks with foreign capital are Invest Finance Bank, Savdogarbank, Hamkorbank, KDB Bank Uzbekistan, Ziraat Bank, Band and Saderat Tashkent.

In January 2014, the CBU revoked the license for the right to carry out banking operations of Samarqand Bank in connection with violations of the banking legislation. In 2018 CBU temporarily nationalised Asia Alliance Bank, but in October 2019 the State Assets Management Agency announced that the bank was ready for privatisation again. In January 2020 it was announced that the controlling stake in the bank would be sold to Sawada Holding, a Japanese investment company. However, the sale has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, to strengthen the competitive financial and banking environment, a presidential decree for reforming the banking system was approved for 2020-2025. The decree’s major focus is on reducing the state’s share of bank ownership, particularly in NBU, Agrobank and Microcredit Bank in the first stage. SAMA is responsible for disposing of a 100% equity stake in Poytaxt Bank and UzAgroEksportBank through an open tender process. In February 2022, Sovkombank (Russia) announced plans to acquire a 100% stake in UzAgroExportBank. Currently, the signed deal is to be processed with some legal procedures. In September 2021, Expobank (Russia) signed a memorandum regarding the privatization and acquisition of Poytaxt Bank.

In September 2021, the government announced the sale of a 75% stake in the state-owned Ipoteka Bank to OTP Bank of Hungary. In April 2022, OTP asked to postpone the deal due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict which began in February 2022.

On June 13, 2023, Hungarian OTP Bank acquired a 75% stake in Uzbekistan’s Ipoteka Bank, planning to purchase the remaining 25% within 3 years. This marks OTP Bank’s entry into Central Asia and the first Western bank to privatise Uzbekistan’s banking sector. Ipoteka Bank holds a 7.6% asset market share and serves 1.5 million retail clients.

A Resolution of the President dated March 18, 2022, №PP-168, was signed to expedite the ongoing privatization process. The Ministry of Finance will continue the transformation and privatization of state-controlled banks and ensure the IPO of Qishloq Qurilish Bank by October 2022; Sanoatqurilishbank and Asaka Bank are subject to being offered for auction with the involvement of the IFC, EBRD, and ADB by the end of 2022. Xalq Bank, Microcreditbank, Aloqa Bank, and the National Bank of Uzbekistan are being prepared for IPOs on the stock exchange by July 2023.

1 - Banks in Uzbekistan (2023)
.	Ownership	Total Assets (UZSbn)	Total Assets ($bn)	Market share
National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU)	State only: 100%	127,502	10.33	19.55%
Uzpromstroybank	State, FRD Fund (UZ) 82.09%; UZ state companies(13.06%), Others ; 4.85	74,634	6.05	11.44%
Agrobank	State: 44.73%, FRD Fund (UZ): 54.12%, legal entities(1.09%), individuals; 0.07	66,700	5.41	10.23%
Asaka Bank	State: 1.34, Ministry Finance (UZ): 98.33%, others; 0.33%	58,014	4.70	8.90%
Xalq Banki (People's Bank)	FRD Fund: 77.6%, Ministry of Finance: 22.4%	36,603	2.97	5.61%
Qishloq Qurilish Bank	State: 74.45%, FRD Fund (UZ): 23.89%, investors: 1.66%	27,063	2.19	4.15%
Mikrokreditbank	State: 70.82%, FRD Fund: 28.15%, others: 1.03%	19,062	1.54	2.92%
Aloqabank	FRD Fund (UZ): 68.1% Others: 31.9%	16,045	1.30	2.46%
Turonbank	FRD Fund (UZ): 90.09% State: 8.67% Others: 1.24%	15,939	1.29	2.44%
Poytakht Bank	State: 100%	215	0.02	0.03%
Subtotal Banks with state ownership (12)		441,777	35.80	67.74%
Ipoteka Bank	State: 19.14%, OTP Bank Plc; 79.58%, Individuals; 0.33%, Other Legal Entities; 0.95	47,638	3.86	7.30%
Kapitalbank	legal entities: 99.87%, individuals: 0.13%	41,886	3.39	6.42%
Hamkorbank	legal entities: 36.25%, individuals: 59.21%, Others: 4.54%	20,980	1.70	3.22%
Ipak Yuli Bank	legal entities: 86.6%, individuals: 13.4%, Others:	16,866	1.37	2.59%
Orient Finans Bank	legal entities 14.84, individuals 85.2%	13,126	1.06	2.01%
KDB Bank Uzbekistan	KDB Bank Korea: 86.82%, investors: 13.12%	8,845	0.72	1.36%
Trustbank	legal entities, individuals	9,450	0.77	1.45%
Invest Finance Bank	legal entities, individuals	9,571	0.78	1.47%
Asia Alliance Bank	State: 45%, legal entities, individuals	8,029	0.65	1.23%
Tenge Bank	JSC Halyk 100%	6,640	0.54	1.02%
Davr Bank	legal entities, individuals	6,130	0.50	0.94%
Anor Bank	Individual investor: 81.8%, Others; 18.2	4,418	0.36	0.68%
Ziraat Bank Uzbekistan	legal entities, individuals	2,941	0.24	0.45%
Avo Bank	State, investors	177	0.01	0.03%
other small banks (9)		13,683	1.11	2.10%
Subtotal other Banks (21)		210,380	17.05	32.26%
Total - all UZ banks		652,157	52.85	100.00%
Note: the Uzbek Som was devalued on 5th September 2017, a rate of 1USD to UZS 10,476.92 was used for the above figures.
Source: Central Bank of Uzbekistan

Central Bank of Uzbekistan describes CBU as “in a class of its own in central Asia” and summarizes the rest of the banking sector as follows:

• Joint-stock banks with variable state participation from full, long-term perspective control through to temporary majority and minority stakes. At present this group still constitutes the majority of Uzbek banks.
• Privately joint-stock banks.
• Joint venture banks between local and foreign financial institutions.

Central Bank of Uzbekistan says its strategy for the banking sector is as follows:

• Create a core group of strong, well-capitalized banks, either based on the large, specialised state banks of the former USSR or from scratch.
• Avoid the mushrooming growth of small, weak banks existing for their own sake or that of a single major shareholder (pocket banks).
• Attract foreign financial institutions of high quality and reputation to participate in local institutions (joint-venture banks).

National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU) – Wholly owned by the government, NBU dominates Uzbek banking, with balance sheet assets of UZS 127.5 trillion ($10.33 billion, 19.6% of the total bank assets). ‘National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan,’ to state its full title, is primarily focused on servicing foreign trade operations, increasing Uzbekistan’s export potential, and attracting foreign investments. The bank claims to service more than 70% of Uzbekistan’s foreign trade turnover, offering guarantees, forfeiting, factoring, and direct lending to domestic exporters. It also uses credit lines offered by EBRD, ADB, and IFC to finance investment projects and purchase raw materials.

Though NBU is dominant in retail banking, with 61 branches serving approximately 2.1 million customers in Uzbekistan, indications are that the retail segment is a relatively low priority for management. NBU’s focus on trade finance and its range of investment banking and project finance responsibilities suggests there are potential opportunities for players with stronger cards and retail focus, given greater freedom in the banking system.

Asaka Bank, which is state: 1.34, Ministry Finance (UZ): 98.33%, others; 0.33%, the Uzbek Development fund, was the first Uzbek bank to develop a fully functioning processing centre for processing Mastercard cards. It is ranked the third largest Uzbek commercial bank by total bank assets. In 2023, the bank reported 22 branches, 22 service centers, and 4 Mini-Banks servicing 1,109,626 customers. Total assets as of 2023 were UZS 58 trillion. In December 2020, Asaka Joint Stock Commercial Bank was reorganized into Asakabank Joint Stock Company.

Uzpromstroybank shows the Ministry of Finance and the government’s fund for development and reconstruction (FRD Fund) as 82.18% shareholders, but their presence is balanced by local state-owned enterprises holding 13.36% and by UK and Netherlands private equity funds holding the balance of less than 5% of shares. The bank has 44 network branches throughout the country, and a representative office in Moscow (RUS).

In January 2021, Uzpromstroybank and JCB announced the launch of JCB merchant acquiring operations across Uzbekistan. The bank’s ATM and terminal network serving HUMO will simultaneously serve the cards of JCB, comprising 150 ATMs and 16,000 POS terminals.

Ipoteka Bank, in which the Ministry of Finance (21.3%) and UzGazOil (25%) are shareholders, is primarily a mortgage bank. In 2023, Ipoteka Bank reported 3.22 million individual customers, served by a network of 39 branches, 17 mini-banks, more than 200 banking service centres, 731 ATMs, and 40,318 POS terminals.

In 2021, Ipoteka Bank introduced fast online crediting and deposit services through its mobile app, along with QR code and P2P services. As of 2021, there were 475,000 Ipoteka mobile banking users, a 28% share of total active clients.

In June 2023, OTP Bank became the first foreign lender to participate in the privatisation of Uzbekistan’s banking sector through the acquisition of a 73.71% stake in the shares held by the state (Ministry of Economy and Finance) in Ipoteka Bank. According to the deal structure, OTP will purchase the remaining 25% three years after the financial closing of the first transaction.

Xalq Banki (People’s Bank) is one of the oldest banks in the country. One of the main purposes of the “People’s Bank” is the timely provision of pensions for senior citizens of Uzbekistan. In July 2015, the People’s Bank was renamed Xalq Banki. The bank is owned by the Fund for Reconstruction and Development (70.1%) and the Ministry of Finance (29.9%).

As of 2023, Xalq Banki had a network of 270 branches, 86 banking service centres, and 1,443 mobile cash points serving 4.1 million retail customers, with over half being active customers. The cashboxes are operated outside of bank branches.

Xalq Banki’s network included 3,186 ATMs and self-serviced Kiosks in 2023, along with 46,652 POS terminals. To support customers an additional 2,000 POS terminals were distributed for the UzCard system.

During 2020, Xalq Banki launched a “Nano” credit card and a co-badged UnionPay gold credit card, and a co-badged Mir card. It also introduced MoneyGram transfers and the UzPay money transfer system. As of 2023, Xalq Banki had 10.896 million cards in circulation.

Agrobank claimed to be the largest Uzbek bank, with an extensive network of branches throughout the country, including Karakalpak Republican control, 12 regional offices, 177 branches and 169 mini-banks, 248 special cash offices, and 187 money transfer offices. Today, banks provide high-quality services to over 200 thousand businesses and more than 3.5 million individuals.

As of 2023, Agrobank serviced 6,079,934 customers. The bank is owned by the state (52.22%), the FRD Fund (46.32%), and other investors (1.46%).

Kapitalbank, licensed in April 2001, is one of the larger privately-owned banks. Having merged with Aviabank in 2004, the Bank has been re-registered as a joint stock commercial Bank. It is owned by legal entities (81.06%) and individuals (18.94%) with no shareholder having more than 16% of the shares. Kapitalbank operates 15 branches, 19 mini-banks, four bank service centres, and 1,000 ATMs servicing over 1.6 million customers as of 2022.

As of 2023, KapitalBank serviced 1,331,977 customers. In 2023, the bank launched new services for entrepreneurs: online bank Uzum Business, opening an account directly without visiting the bank’s office (in Tashkent), a single contact centre, loans for the purchase of special equipment, as well as expanded the list of online services available for individuals. For instance, it is available to make a loan payment on the bank’s website or app.

TBC Bank is a subsidiary of Georgia’s TBC Bank, and received its banking license in Uzbekistan in April 2020, officially launching in October 2020 under the TBC UZ brand. TBC initially entered Uzbekistan in April 2019 by acquiring 51% of ‘Payme’. During 2020, Payme continued its rapid growth through new customer acquisition and diversification of its offerings to existing clients. By the end of 2022, TBC’s number of registered and monthly active users of its digital banking app reached 2.4 million and 428,000 respectively. TBC continues to operate via its mobile banking app, TBC UZ, in Uzbekistan as a fully digital bank. TBC’s products and services in Uzbekistan include unsecured consumer loans, current accounts, and savings deposits as well as various payment solutions such as P2P transfers, bill payments, debit cards, and the ability to attach other banks’ cards to its mobile app.

In addition, it introduced virtual cards in 2021 and signed partnership agreements with large international retailers such as Carrefour and Magnum enabling QR payments with the Payme app in these stores.

TBC PLC invested additional capital totalling $21 million into TBC UZ in 2022, while TBC Group’s partners, IFC and EBRD injected an additional $7 million each to support the expansion plans in line with the arrangement entered in September 2021. As a result, the total investment into TBC UZ by all shareholders amounted to approximately $79 million by the end of 2022. TBC PLC provided $16.9 million, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) each invested $5.6 million in TBC Bank Uzbekistan. In November 2024, TBC Bank announced the launch of Salom Card, its flagship debit card product in its quest to provide world-class digital banking products in Uzbekistan.

Digital Banking

All retail banks in Uzbekistan offer online banking and mobile banking apps to their clients. From a low base in 2010, internet and mobile banking are growing fast in Uzbekistan, particularly the mobile side. There is no bank-independent electronic banking standard; each Uzbek bank offers its own proprietary online banking service.

Internet banking activity is monitored by the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, which maintains statistics on number of users of remote banking services and on number of users by bank.

The latter show Agrobank and CBU as the biggest forces in remote banking, the same two banks are leaders in SMS and mobile banking as well.

Banks have begun to introduce SMS-based mobile banking and mobile banking apps, enabling customers to check the balance on deposit and card accounts.

The growth of Uzbekistan’s digital economy in 2023 was attributed to the expansion of domestic demand, a stable situation in the labour market and renewed growth in Russia and Ukraine. The number of remote banking users in 2023 was approximately 44.1 million, a growth rate of 47% higher than in 2022. According to the CBU, remote bank account users comprised 1,339,609 business entities and 42.8 million individuals approximately.

In 2023, the HUMO Pay app saw significant expansion in its contactless payment technology. The app is now available at 25 banks, up from 21 banks in 2022. The QR Online system also continued to grow, with over 110,000 registered businesses in 2023, compared to 99,000 in 2022. The volume of transactions through this system surged to UZS 240 billion, a substantial increase from UZS 191.6 billion in 2022. The number of transactions grew by over 5 times, reaching 75,000 units

In 2021, the CBU announced that the biometric identification “My ID” system for bank customers had been fully implemented, enabling banking accounts and services to be opened remotely. For mobile banking services, in September 2021, the digital ID mechanism “Face ID” was launched, available from 11 commercial banks and four payment organisations. In 2022, the use of the digital identification mechanism (Face ID) integrated into mobile applications continued to be popularized. At the end of 2022, this technology was implemented by 26 commercial banks and 13 payment organisations. The Tap-to-phone system, which allows entities to accept payments through the smartphone’s NFC system and was introduced as part of the development of contactless payment services, is used by more than 2,300 entities as an alternative payment tool to a POS terminal.

In 2023, the biometric identification system “My ID” by the Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU) continued to facilitate remote banking services. The “Face ID” mechanism, which allows for digital identification, was further integrated into mobile applications and adopted by 35 commercial banks and 17 payment organisations by the end of 2023. Additionally, the Tap-to-phone system, enabling entities to accept payments through smartphones’ NFC, expanded its usage to over 3,000 entities, providing an alternative to traditional POS terminals

Xalq Banki’s mobile app was updated in 2020 and recorded 418,856 transactions worth UZS 162 billion. There were 185,253 mobile app users in 2020, 2,369 internet banking users, and 18,133 mobile banking users.

As of 2023, KapitalBank serviced 1,331,977 customers. In 2023, the bank launched new services for entrepreneurs: online bank Uzum Business, opening an account directly without visiting the bank’s office (in Tashkent), a single contact centre, loans for the purchase of special equipment, as well as expanded the list of online services available for individuals. For instance, it is available to make a loan payment on the bank’s website or app.

TBC UZ launched digital banking operations in Uzbekistan for retail customers in October 2020 and started lending operations in January 2021. The number of registered Payme users grew 1.6x to 8.2 million in 2022, while the number of monthly active digital users more than doubled from 1.1 million in 2021 to 2.5 million in 2022. In 2022, the volume of transactions increased by 57% year-on-year to GEL 7.4 billion.

In 2023, TBC UZ’s digital banking operations continued to expand. As of May 2023, TBC UZ had 192,000 registered users and had issued around 47,000 TBC cards. The number of transactions, particularly at POS terminals, increased, driven by the growing adoption of TBC cards. Payme, TBC’s payment app, also saw significant growth with registered users reaching 3.4 million, a 72.5% year-on-year increase. Payme’s revenues grew by 100.8% to $1.5 million, and net profit increased by 134.1% to $900,000​.

In November 2024, TBC Uzbekistan unveiled its own payments processing centre. The processing centre, custom-made for TBC Uzbekistan, will give the company full control over all of its payment processing workstreams, enabling TBC to bring new products to market faster and with greater efficiency. The centre will fully support all of TBC’s payment transactions, such as peer-to-peer transfers, card payments and QR code-enabled payments.

Through its FinTech platform, Space, TBC reported that the number of downloads of the Space app exceeded 1.5 million in 2021, while the number of registered users reached 1.1 million as of 31 December 2021.

2 - Remote Banking Users by Bank end-2023
	Company Clients		Individual Clients		Total	GR 22/23
Agrobank	201,760		5,878,174		6,079,934	40.91%
National Bank of Uzbekistan	97,411		2,001,214		2,098,625	38.69%
Asaka Bank	36,586		1,073,040		1,109,626	17.10%
Aloqabank	64,685		1,604,832		1,669,517	133.80%
Ipoteka (Mortgage) Bank	167,567		3,220,676		3,388,243	44.46%
Mikrokredit Bank	69,672		1,232,520		1,302,192	42.19%
Kapitalbank	35,323		1,296,654		1,331,977	96.87%
Hamkorbank	126,047		1,741,682		1,867,729	46.40%
Qishloq Qurilish Bank	27,085		401,985		429,070	5.08%
Xalq Banki (People's Bank)	120,118		4,587,680		4,707,798	10.78%
Ipak Yuli Bank	61,938		2,353,516		2,415,454	62.18%
Asia Alliance Bank	26,743		614,157		640,900	57.41%
Turon Bank	48,473		530,093		578,566	71.57%
Uzpromstroybank	73,177		6,296,325		6,369,502	32.32%
other banks	183,024		9,927,443		10,110,467	80.80%
Total for all Uzbek banks	1,339,609		42,759,991		44,099,600	46.99%
Source: Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Payment Services

In 2024, the more than 300 different payment services offered in Europe can be grouped into:

• Card brands and card types
• E-Money and prepaid products by issued brand
• Account-based payment services by issued brands, e.g. IBAN-based SCT/SDD services
• Advanced payment services: e.g. wallets by issued brand
• Digital payment services: e.g. digital scheme wallets issued by brand

Card Brands and Card Types

All retail banks in Uzbekistan issue cards. Payroll scheme cards form a large part of the card base. Most cards are internationally branded and there is a significant domestic scheme. In 2021, the EMV migration continued.

UzCard is a domestic card scheme based on EMV chip technology. UzCard cards are primarily designed to function as payroll cards. In 2015, virtual payments within the UZCARD-EMV system through mobile phones and on the Internet without the direct use of plastic cards and terminals were created. In 2019, a new national domestic payment card scheme, HUMO, was launched, which incorporates contactless technology.

The HUMO payment scheme expanded the acceptance of Uzcard cards for online payments, along with contactless HUMO payments at Tashkent Metro and Toshshahartranshizmat enterprises (metro and bus) services by means of a contactless transport card. Contactless transactions worth UZS 25.5 billion were made in 2021, a 2.1x increase compared with UZS 11.8 billion in 2021. In 2023, contactless transactions in Uzbekistan continued to grow, reflecting the country’s increasing adoption of digital payment methods.

Uzbek card products like consumer cards, commercial cards and purchasing cards range from classic cards to gold cards and platinum cards. Also, salary cards are widely introduced in Uzbekistan. Additional card features (e.g. picture cards, bonus points, PIN selection at ATMs and card control by SMS notification) are used to attract cardholders. Also, individual picture cards and collector cards can be issued on demand. Further, card-to-card P2P services have been launched.

From July 2023, banks and other card issuers will no longer issue Maestro cards. Instead, they will need to issue Debit Mastercard. Maestro was launched in 1991 and was the world’s first debit card that could be used via an online network. About 400 million Maestro cards are in circulation worldwide, mainly across Europe. However, Maestro is not enabled for the demands of e-commerce and cannot be used for online or in-app payments, hence the decision to phase it out in favour of Mastercard Debit products. Visa announced that Electron cards will be phased out globally in 2024. The features of the Visa Debit card have been modified to match the features of the Visa Electron card.

Debit cards issued are UzCard, HUMO, Mastercard, VISA cards.

Credit Cards issued are cards branded VISA, Mastercard, or UnionPay.

Prepaid Cards – Leading Uzbek banks have started to issue prepaid cards and virtual prepaid cards for internet use.

Co-branded cards – In Uzbekistan, few co-branded cards are in circulation.

Contactless Cards and form-factors

From 2015, banks in Uzbekistan issue contactless cards with PayPass or payWave function.

Predefined contactless limits – Contactless payments of purchase amounts below a predefined contactless limit are without PIN or signature and without transaction receipt. In the Kyrgyz Republic, the contactless limit for low value payments without PIN/signature was set to be UZS 10,000 for cards with PayPass or payWave function. In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the limit was raised to UZS 250,000 to encourage more non-cash transactions.

Interchange Fee Arrangements

International and Intra European Non-EEA Interchange Fees are set by the members of the international card schemes to be applied in case of cross-border transactions or foreign cards used in Uzbekistan, respectively. The effective rates of Mastercard and VISA Europe can be found on the respective Mastercard and VISA websites.

Domestic Merchant Interchange Fee (DMIF) for Uzbek cards is defined by Mastercard and VISA, respectively.

E-Money 

Uzbekistan has substantially updated its regulations for payments, payment systems and payment services, to meet the needs of the digital era and to pave the way for e-money and digital wallets.

With the adoption of two significant regulations: (1) Law  “On payments and payment systems” No.578 ( “Law On Payment Systems”) in 2019; and (2) Resolution of the Central Bank’s Board “On approval of the rules on the issuance and circulation of electronic money on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan” No. 3231 in 2020 (“Rules On E-Money Emission”), it is now legal to issue e-money and digital wallets in Uzbekistan.

However, Uzbek law is much stricter than other countries in that only commercial banks and the CBU itself can issue e-money. Furthermore, issuance of e-money can only be made in the national currency and not foreign currencies.

E-money services in 2022 were provided by 17 licensed e-money systems. In 2022, 11.6 million e-money transactions were made for a total value of UZS 273.2 billion, compared to 5 million transactions worth UZS 170.7 billion in 2021, of which 92% of transactions were made by businesses were for purchases, and 8% were made by individuals.

As of end-2022, 15 electronic money systems were included in the register of electronic money systems of the Central Bank, the number of electronic wallets opened in these systems amounted to 8.4 million units.

In 2023, e-money services in Uzbekistan continued to expand. The number of licensed e-money systems increased, and as of the end of the year, there were 19 licensed e-money providers. The total value of e-money transactions reached UZS 312.5 billion, reflecting a significant increase from the previous year. The number of e-money transactions grew to 14.3 million, showing a steady adoption rate among users. Approximately 90% of these transactions were made by businesses for purchases, while individuals accounted for the remaining 10%.

In 2020, Turkiston Bank obtained the first e-money license and developed an app called Oson. Oson was designed for those who wanted to add money to an e-wallet to make payments – customers have many options to top-up their e-wallet including Uzcard, HUMO, VISA, Mastercard, WebMoney, and physical Paynet kiosks. The app is popular with Uzbek migrants who can top up their Oson e-wallets with their international cards (they do not need an Uzcard, HUMO, or an Uzbek bank account) to send money or pay utilities for their relatives living in Uzbekistan.

Account-based Payment Services 

In the Yearbooks, account-based payment services are classified as bank payment services on bank accounts offered by banks or by independent payment initiation service providers (PISP).

Credit transfers take the form of payment orders in Uzbekistan. They can be paper based or automated. These are commonly submitted in paper form to banks before being processed electronically, but they can also be submitted in electronic form. Electronic credit transfers are used by companies for salary and supplier payments. Collection orders are typically used by the government for tax and customs payments and account for only a small number of transactions.

Direct debits are available in Uzbekistan, but usage is very limited.

As in many European countries, bank transfers have been adopted for online payments, enabling consumers to pay direct from their bank account as an alternative service to payment cards.

Advanced Payment Services

In the Yearbooks, advanced payment services are classified as online wallets, e-wallets, and/or mobile wallets with any type of payment service chosen by the wallet user to complete the payment.

In selected domestic online shops, the online wallets PayPal, Webmoney, Octo, CLICK, and UPAY are offered as payment means. In May 2022, UPAY was acquired by Humans, an online payment system and app with over 2 million users as of 2021.

PayPal – In October 2020, it was announced that PayPal would be allowed to launch in Uzbekistan, with the CBU setting out operating conditions. Prior to this, Uzbekistan was the only Central Asian country that had prohibited PayPal.

As of end-2022, PayPal reported more than 435 million active customer accounts globally, up 2% from 426 million in 2021.  During 2022, PayPal added approximately 8.6 million net new active accounts, ending the year with 435 million active consumer and merchant accounts. PayPal’s total payment volume increased to $1.36 trillion (up 9% from 2021) and customer engagement grew to an average of 51 transactions per active account, driving 12% growth in transactions per active account at the end of 2022.

As of the end of 2023, PayPal reported more than 435 million active customer accounts globally, up 2% from 426 million in 2022. During 2023, PayPal added approximately 8.6 million net new active accounts, ending the year with 435 million active consumer and merchant accounts. PayPal’s total payment volume increased to $1.36 trillion (up 9% from 2022) and customer engagement grew to an average of 51 transactions per active account, driving 12% growth in transactions per active account at the end of 2023.

During 2020, with consumers worldwide embracing digital wallet capabilities, the company launched several related services including QR Code Checkout, Buy Now Pay Later, Crypto purchasing, and Xoom direct transfers to bank accounts and debit cards.

In June 2018, PayPal continued its shopping spree with a $400 million cash deal to acquire e-commerce platform Hyperwallet. The acquisition followed deals to buy Venmo, Xoom, Sweden’s iZettle (renamed Zettle) for $2.2 billion and AI-based merchant marketing outfit Jetlore, as Paypal bids to extend its reach to all corners of the payments market.

In May 2022, PayPal Ventures invested in Modulr, an embedded payments platform for digital businesses, as part of a $108 million Series C funding round led by General Atlantic, Blenheim Chalcot, Frog Capital, and Highland Europe. Modulr delivers payments infrastructure for over 200 top-tier customers, including Revolut, Wagestream, Sage and BrightPay, and processes an annualised transaction value of more than £100 billion.

In 2023, PayPal is exploring the sale of Xoom, its international money transfer subsidiary, in a bid to cut costs and focus on high-growth business areas. Also, Stax Payments – an all-in-one payment provider for businesses – announced its partnership with PayPal in July 2023. This partnership will allow PayPal’s users to easily make payments with more than 20,000 merchants of Stax through a fast checkout process as well as new payment options such as Buy-now-pay-later solutions.

In 2023, PayPal launched its own US dollar-denominated stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), which is fully backed by US dollar deposits, short-term US treasuries, and similar cash equivalents and designed for digital payments and Web3. Eligible US PayPal customers who purchase PayPal USD will be able to transfer the token to external wallets, send person-to-person payments, fund purchases at checkouts supported by PayPal, and convert cryptocurrency holdings to and from PayPal USD.

In January 2024, PayPal launched AI-powered features to drive personalised offerings for both merchants and customers based on the data it possesses. These features include Smart Receipts (for merchants) which predicts what shoppers may want to buy next from the merchant. The merchant can then offer personalised recommendations, and cashback offers on this receipt. A major feature for users is CashPass which will use give users personalized cashback offers based on an AI analysis of their spending activity.

In March 2024, PayPal launched a complete suite of payment processing tools for online small businesses in the UK, Canada, and across more than 20 European markets. The PayPal Complete Payments package enables small businesses to accept an expanded range of payment instruments including PayPal, buy now pay later, Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit and debit cards, and alternative payment methods from around the world. By April 2024, PayPal added new features to its complete payments solution for small businesses to enable small businesses to accept a range of payments including PayPal, Venmo and PayPal Pay Later products. PayPal also gave small businesses access to four new features to help them drive payment acceptance and enhance how they run their business, and this will include Apple Pay as a checkout option.

Digital Account-to-Account Payment Services

In the Yearbooks, digital payment services are classified as card-based payment services using EMV tokenisation security on the internet combined with HCE NFC technology in case of contactless payments at POS terminals.

As of mid-2022, the Click to Pay e-commerce service, which replaced the digital wallets MasterPass and VISA Checkout, was not supported by banks in Uzbekistan. Click to Pay is a joint service between Mastercard, Visa, Discover, and American Express, enabling consumers to make secure one-click payments without having to enter card details or passwords online.

Contactless payments on cards using Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Google Pay (previously Android Pay) made by foreign users at contactless POS terminals in Uzbekistan are processed as payments on contactless cards.

Global contactless transaction values will reach $10 trillion by 2027, up from $4.6 trillion in 2022, with contactless mobile and wearable payments expected to grow by 221% and contactless card payments by 119% over the same period.

Contactless ticketing spend will increase by more than 440% globally between 2022 and 2027, with growing prominence and support for OEM pay solutions, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay” being a “key enabler for mobile NFC ticketing across many markets.

Overall growth in contactless transaction values will be catalysed by growing mobile payments adoption, with 99% of all smartphones capable of making contactless payments by 2027, up from 94% today, and average transaction values for Apple Pay reaching $28.20 and $33.40 for Google Pay.

Apple Pay has become one of the world’s most used digital payment methods. Its user base increased from 521.4 million to 535.8 million in 2022. By 2024, the total number of Apple Pay users was estimated at 640 million and is projected to exceed 700 million by 2027.

According to Apple’s Q2 last 2022, they saw a record of transactions with more than 1.8 billion processed during the quarter, up 40% year-over-year. This payment method is also available in over 90% of the US and 60% of stores globally.

Apple Pay is the #1 most popular digital wallet with a 92% market share, processing a global total of $6 trillion in payments in 2022 and produced a revenue of $1.9 billion.

As of 2023, Apple Pay processed 14.2% of all online consumer payments and 3.5% of all in-store purchases.

Around 51% of global iPhone users have enabled Apple Pay in 2022. There are 10 million Apple Pay-friendly contactless payment terminals worldwide. However, Apple Pay is not yet available in Uzbekistan.

The transactions made using Apple Pay are mostly in-store purchases, online transactions, and peer-to-peer payments. It is trendy for contactless payments, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were about 38 million Apple Pay users in the United States as Apple Pay has gained popularity since its launch in 2014, accounting for 43.2% of mobile payment users. These numbers expect to increase and grow up to 101.2 million this 2023.

Putting it all together, Apple Pay is increasingly becoming an effective customer acquisition and retention feature for Apple. In June 2022, Apple Pay added Apple Pay Later, its own buy-now-pay-later service, allowing users to split purchases into four equal instalments with no interest or fees. Initially launched in the US, the service is expected to roll out to other countries during 2023. In 2023, Apple launched its Card savings account from Goldman Sachs with a 4.15% annual percentage yield. Apple Wallet users can set up and manage a savings account directly from Apple Card in Wallet, with no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements. Apple Pay is not yet available in Uzbekistan as of August 2023.

Google Pay has 150 million users across 42 global markets.

In January 2022, it was reported that the company was planning to transform Google Pay into a “comprehensive digital wallet”, following the app’s reported slow growth and the shutdown of Plex. In April, it was reported that Google was planning to revive the “Google Wallet” branding in a new app or interface and integrate with Google Pay. Google officially announced Google Wallet on May 11, 2022, at the 2022 Google I/O keynote. The app began rolling out on Android smartphones on July 18, replacing the 2018 app and co-existing with the 2020 Google Pay app in the US. While the app name itself was changed from Google Pay to Google Wallet, the service name of actually paying for things online or in-store remains “Google Pay.”

In the US, Google Pay has over 25.2 million users.  Also, Google Pay is used on nearly 800,000 websites as a secure payment gateway. Roughly 20% of all mobile purchases are made using this digital payment processor. Google Pay ranks 3rd among mobile payment methods globally. In Russia, it has an online usage distribution of 35.18% and has recorded approximately 1,281,838 transactions online. Available in 19 countries, 30% of Google Pay’s active users are millennials. It is one of Canada’s top 5 online payment apps and is the primary mobile payment method for 2,193 businesses worldwide. In India, Google Pay boasts 67 million active users and holds 36.10% of the mobile application market. Its widespread adoption and significant market share highlight its growing importance in the global digital payment landscape.

Google Pay is not yet available in Uzbekistan as of end-2023. To boost tourism, the Government of Uzbekistan has decided in October 2024 to integrate international online payment systems such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal into its financial infrastructure. In September 2024, the government adopted a resolution that mandates the Central Bank to negotiate with global payment companies like PayPal, Alipay, and UniPay by the end of 2024.

Samsung Pay is available in 29 countries worldwide and has an estimated 140 million users. Samsung Pay works with Galaxy phones, including the latest Galaxy S22. Samsung claims that its system will work with almost all point-of-sale systems: NFC, magnetic stripe and EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) terminals for chip-based cards.

In May 2020, Samsung Pay unveiled Samsung Money by SoFi, a mobile-first money management experience that makes available a cash management account and accompanying Mastercard debit card via the Samsung Pay app, in partnership with fintech company SoFi.

In June 2022, Samsung Pay was renamed to Samsung Wallet in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Along with the renaming came new features such as the ability to store digital assets and digital keys within the Wallet app. Samsung Pay is not yet available in Uzbekistan.

Overview of Cashless Payments

Cash is the predominant method of payment in Uzbekistan for both individuals and companies.

Payment card use, particularly debit cards, has increased rapidly over recent years.

In 2023, Uzbekistan has made significant strides toward expanding its cashless payment infrastructure. The Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU) reported that 92 million transactions worth UZS 70 trillion were made through the Interbank Payment System, up from 85.71 million transactions worth UZS 58.69 trillion in 2022.

The number of instant payment transactions surged to 21 million, totalling UZS 500 trillion, compared to 17.61 million transactions worth UZS 446.10 trillion in 2022. The number of service providers accepting payments through the CBU’s clearing system increased from 46 in 2022 to 50 in 2023. This includes utilities, taxes, customs fees, and various state services.

As of 2023, there were 50 payment service organisations, 3 payment system operators, and 2 key processing entities: The National Interbank Processing Centre and the Single Nationwide Processing Centre. In a move to reduce cash transactions, Uzbekistan has introduced regulations requiring non-cash payments for certain wholesale transactions, including commodities like timber, tyres, and sugar. The government has also set a cash transaction ceiling of UZS 100 million (approximately $8,000) to encourage electronic payments​.

Exchange Rates

The national currency is the Uzbekistan Soum (UZS), also known as Som or Sum. Figures in the table are approximate. According to local media reports, there are around 3,000 currency exchange bureaux in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, where black market dollars are traded at up to 30% more than the official exchange rate. Please note that the Uzbek Som was devalued by the Central Bank on 5th September 2017.

3 - Year-End Exchange Rates
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
1 EUR in UZS	8,836.79	12,786.03	12,224.88	11,961.85	13,731.82
1 USD in UZS	9,890.90	10,476.92	10,837.66	11,225.46	12,338.77
Note: the Uzbek Som was devalued by the Central Bank on 5th September 2017.
Source: Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan (CBU).

Market Infrastructure

Modernisation of the Uzbek payment system has been a key aim of government policy for more than a decade. UZKART was established in September 2004 by a resolution of the cabinet of ministers, “On measures for further development of accounting systems based on plastic cards.” This covered the period 2007-2010 and called for a yearly increase of 30% in card turnover and transactions through to 2010. The resolution also set the target of 5 million cards and 30,000 POS terminals by 2010; both targets were met.

The cabinet of ministers’ resolution also called for work “to develop recommendations on the organisation and operation of remote banking customer service to bank customers via the internet.”

Data from GSMA Intelligence shows that there were 31.84 million cellular mobile connections in Uzbekistan at the start of 2023, compared with 46.21 million payment cards issued at end-2023. The rapid growth of Uzbekistan’s mobile phone sector, which reflects foreign investment by MTS and Vimpelcom from Russia and the Nordic TeliaSonera, compares and contrasts with the lack of foreign investment in the banking system. A significant development in the Uzbek telecom industry is the expansion of 4G and 5G networks. Uzbekistan was one of the first countries in Central Asia to launch 4G services, and it is now making strides toward deploying 5G networks. This fast growth in mobile technology has had a profound impact on various sectors of the economy. For instance, the e-commerce industry has experienced tremendous growth due to the widespread use of mobile devices. Consumers can now shop online, make payments, and access a wide range of services with just a few taps on their smartphones.

A resolution of the president of Uzbekistan in November 2010 was more general in its scope – “On priorities for further reform and (to) improve the stability of the financial and banking system in 2011-2015 and to achieve high international rating figures.”

In 2018, the Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, “On additional measures to increase the availability of banking services” was implemented. The aims of the Resolution are to increase the availability of banking services and consumer protection, increase financial literacy, improve the level of digital and remote services, and modernisation of the payment system.

According to the Resolution, domestic payment systems must be integrated with the main international payment systems to ensure acceptance of non-resident payment cards throughout the POS terminal network across the country. This allowed cardholders of international payment systems, such as UnionPay, Mastercard, VISA, and MIR of Russia, to use cards at any POS terminal in Uzbekistan, as well as co-branded cards.

The CBU’s Instant Payment System was launched in 2020, allowing real-time P2P transfers via mobile to be made 24/7. In payment systems, further development was achieved to increase cashless payments, including QR code payments, NFC and phone-tap payments, along with increased cooperation with Russia’s Mir, VISA, Mastercard, UnionPay and other payment systems.

In February 2020, the Express Payment System was launched, a remote service enabling payments 24/7 through 10 banks in Uzbekistan. The system also allows tax payments to the Treasury from bank accounts.

National Interbank Payment System – UZKART

In addition to the usual supervisory role, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU) is responsible for the organisation of a unified retail payment system. This goal was pursued for 15 years by the adoption of proprietary ‘Duet’ smart card technology from BGS Systems (see Appendix), but in April 2011, UZKART, the National Interbank Payment System, announced the results of a competitive tender to build a new national switch and processing platform, which was won by BPC Banking Technologies.

The new infrastructure was needed to replace the Duet-based legacy payments processing infrastructure so as to meet the expected rapid growth in Uzbekistan’s payments business. UZKART also wanted to issue and acquire internationally branded cards, which meant complying with the global standards set for data security and fraud management.

In mid-2011, UZKART said the BPC system would broaden the range of customer services available at ATMs and bank kiosks, particularly enabling payment of utility and mobile phone bills. Other functionality planned by individual banks included fast money transfers (CBU) and repayment of consumer loans (Asaka Bank).

UZKART includes 32 participating commercial banks issuing all of the country’s cards, most of which are UZS-denominated local UzCard cards. The company also provides services to PayMe, CLICK, UZPAYNET, and other customers, including 47 payment aggregators. As of mid-2022 UZKART’s network comprised 1,552 POS terminals, and 469 ATMs.

UZCARD aims to extend the Instant Card project to all bank branches in Uzbekistan – even in the most remote areas of the country. In the 14 administrative regions of Uzbekistan there are more than 30 banks with approximately 970 branches and 2,000+ smaller banking service centres. By the mid of 2023, UZCARD is planning to implement the Instant Card solution in all its member banks.

The processing unit is the ‘United Republican Processing Centre,’ known as CRPC, with a sub-division called ‘Department of Soum plastic cards processing’ or DSPCP. All bank branches, ATMs, banking kiosks and POS terminals are connected to the central processing unit.

The merchant servicing network is UZPAYNET, now known as PAYNET. On average 2.5 million – 3 million payment transactions are processed daily through UZPAYNET. MyUzcard is a system designed to provide non-cash payments through mobile apps or website. UZKART also operates the ATTO automated fare payment system.

However, in 2014 the Uzbekistan government issued a decree announcing the launch of a new project for interbank card processing of international cards. The government appeared to envisage an entity separate from UZKART, which is supposed to build its own systems and infrastructure. This is despite the fact that UZKART has the necessary functional and organisational capabilities, as well as the scalability, to carry out switching and clearing for the banks’ international card operations within its own infrastructure. Effective 2018, all new cards issued under the UZKART brand were co-badged with the UnionPay brand, and in 2019 began acquiring cards of Russia’s MIR payment system, and VISA card transactions. UZKART also launched P2P transfers from the Russian Federation to UZKART cards. In 2020, UZKART began issuance of co-branded MIR cards and Mastercard cards in Uzbekistan. In June 2022, UZKART announced the launch of mobile phone QR code cash withdrawals in conjunction with Qishlog Qurilish Bank. In 2023, UZKART expanded its innovative services by enhancing the mobile phone QR code cash withdrawal system, initially launched in partnership with Qishlog Qurilish Bank in 2022

However, in September 2018, UZKART suffered a serious malfunction. As a result, the CBU was instructed to accelerate the development of a national interbank processing centre and a new card payment system. In 2019, the CBU launched a new national payment card system, named HUMO. From May 2019, the CBU issued a limited number of HUMO-branded payment cards to test the payment infrastructure. All HUMO cards and POS terminals are contactless enabled.

HUMO settles card transactions both in Uzbekistan and abroad. The operator of the payment system is National Interbank Processing Centre, which performs the information clearing of operations in foreign currency in Uzbekistan, as well as the processing functions for all operations within the HUMO payment system. HUMO has established relations with international payment systems (VISA, Mastercard, UnionPay) to enable foreign currency transactions for HUMO cards abroad and foreign cards in Uzbekistan. So far 32 banks in Uzbekistan are members of HUMO in 2022 while 27 banks serving UZCARD cards at HUMO ATMs. As of 2021, HUMO’s network had over 100,000 payment terminals. From March 2021, HUMO began acceptance of UnionPay cards in Uzbekistan.

From June 1, 2023, Uzcard and HUMO payment systems began interconnecting their ATMs per a schedule agreed with commercial banks, allowing one ATM to serve both card types. The Central Bank informed Kun.uz that 24 of 27 banks have completed 100% integration within their networks. By July 3, 92% of ATMs (11,458 out of 12,339) were integrated. Khalk Banki (3,111 ATMs), Kapitalbank (1,197 ATMs), and Agrobank (1,423 ATMs) lead in full integration. However, Sanoatqurilishbank and Ipak Yuli Bank have reached only 53% and 55%, respectively, while Uzagroexportbank, with 6 ATMs, has not yet integrated.

In 2021, the CBU focused on expanding retail payment infrastructure, including the integration of HUMO and UZCARD payment systems, and the first stage was completed in December 2021. The CBU completed the integration of HUMO and UZCARD ATMs by May 2023. This allows HUMO cards to be used in UZCARD ATMs and vice versa, facilitating more seamless transactions for users across both networks. The integration process started in 2021, and the technical work for ATM integration was completed by May 2023, with a full rollout expected by June 1, 2023​.

In 2022, an agreement was signed between the National Interbank Processing Center and TBC Bank Uzbekistan to launch a project for servicing HUMO cards in Georgia. Thanks to this project, customers of a commercial bank can pay or withdraw cash from ATMs of the TBC network in any available currency using a HUMO som card.

National Institute of Credit Information (NICI)

NICI, the National Institute of Credit Information, was under the supervision of CBU, the central bank. As part of the law, ‘On the exchange of credit information,’ adopted in October 2011, NICI was a public credit registry, which collected and distributed credit information among commercial banks on a compulsory basis.

A further presidential decree, of July 18, 2012 – ‘on measures to further radical improvement of business environment and provision of greater freedom of entrepreneurship’ – included new steps to improve the efficiency of credit information sharing.

In 2021, the successor credit registry, the State Register of Credit Information, saw an increase in the number of total credit agreements included in the database to 5.2 million, an increase of 27.1% compared to 2020.

Card Issuers – Overview 

The banks in Uzbekistan issue credit cards, charge cards, debit cards and prepaid cards in combination with bank accounts. Addressing the specific needs of personal banking and business banking, the card portfolio is composed of consumer cards, business cards and corporate cards.

Dedicated card products are offered for the individual client segments: families, millennials, students, affluent clients, small business clients, corporate clients and even basic account clients. The credit cards offered range from classic cards to gold cards and platinum cards.

The CBU announced that the integration of VISA, Mastercard, MIR and UnionPay payment systems was completed. As of 2023, local payment cards were issued by 15 commercial banks in Uzbekistan alongside cards from VISA and Mastercard. The Central Bank of Uzbekistan announced that the integration of ATMs for Uzcard and Humo payment systems could be completed by May 2023. However, the actual integration process began in June. According to the agreed schedule with commercial banks, Uzcard and Humo ATMs have been gradually interconnected since June 1, 2023. As a result, 92% of the 12,339 ATMs in Uzbekistan now serve both Humo and Uzcard carda. Among the banks that have fully integrated their ATMs, Khalk Banki, Kapitalbank, and Agrobank have the highest number of ATMs serving both systems.

In Uzbekistan, 33 banks issue debit cards branded UzCard, Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, MIR, and delayed debit cards and credit cards branded UnionPay, Mastercard or VISA. Ipak Yuli Bank has been a UnionPay issuer since 2009. In 2012, Hamkor Bank launched UnionPay cards. In 2014, Asia Alliance Bank started issuing UnionPay cards. In 2019, Aloqa Bank launched business and corporate UnionPay cards. The cards are also contactless-enabled.

The leading card issuers are Agrobank, National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU), Xalq Banki and Asaka Bank. Other major issuers include Uzpromstroybank, Ipoteka Bank and Mikrokreditbank. Table 4 illustrates the card brands issued by the Uzbek banks as at mid-2023. In 2023, Uzbekistan’s leading card issuers include Agrobank, NBU, Xalq Banki, and Asaka Bank, issuing brands like VISA, Mastercard, UzCard, HUMO, and UnionPay. All new UzCards are co-branded with UnionPay.

4 - Leading Card Issuers in Uzbekistan
Domestic Issuers	Issued Card Brands	Owned by
Agrobank	VISA; Mastercard; UzCard; HUMO; UnionPay	State: 44.73%, FRD Fund (UZ): 54.12%, legal entities(1.09%), individuals; 0.07
National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU)	VISA; Mastercard; UzCard; HUMO	State: 100%
Xalq Banki (People's Bank)	VISA; UzCard; HUMO; UnionPay; MIR	FRD Fund: 77.6%, Ministry of Finance: 22.4%
Asaka Bank	Mastercard; UzCard; HUMO	State: 1.34, Ministry Finance (UZ): 98.33%, others; 0.33%
Uzpromstroybank	VISA; UzCard; HUMO	State, FRD Fund (UZ) 82.09%; UZ state companies(13.06%), Others ; 4.85
Ipoteka Bank	VISA; Mastercard; UzCard; HUMO	State: 19.14%, OTP Bank Plc; 79.58%, Individuals; 0.33%, Other Legal Entities; 0.95
Mikrokreditbank	Mastercard, VISA; UzCard; UnionPay; HUMO	State: 70.82%, FRD Fund: 28.15%, others: 1.03%
Ipak Yuli Bank	VISA; Mastercard; UnionPay; UzCard; HUMO	legal entities: 86.6%, individuals: 13.4%, Others:
Kapitalbank	VISA; Mastercard; UzCard; HUMO	legal entities: 99.87%, individuals: 0.13%
other banks	VISA; UzCard; Mastercard; MIR; HUMO; UnionPay	other bank owners
Note: effective 2018, all new UzCards are issued as co-branded cards with UnionPay
Source: PCM research

Issuance of cards is broadly based, with no national champion having emerged. Xalq Banki, the biggest issuer, had 10.89 million cards in circulation at end-2023, equivalent to 23.58% of the total. Based on end-2023 figures, the next three banks – Agrobank, Ipoteka Bank, and NBU – had 9.63%, 8.15%, and 8.30% market share respectively, so the five largest issuer banks accounted for 55.70% of cards issued in Uzbekistan.

5 - Banks' Key Figures end-2023
Bank	Cards (000s)	Cards (in%)	POS Terminals	ATMs + Self-Service Kiosks	POS Transactions in 2023 (UZSbn)
Xalq Banki (People's Bank)	10,896.3	23.58%	46,652	3,186	8,861
Agrobank	4,451.5	9.63%	39,904	2,155	12,688
National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU)	3,834.4	8.30%	40,889	769	15,277
Ipoteka Bank	3,765.9	8.15%	40,318	731	19,455
Uzpromstroybank	2,376.5	5.14%	33,770	674	10,826
Ipak Yuli Bank	2,803.3	6.07%	23,848	829	8,862
Hamkorbank	2,187.2	4.73%	31,542	717	10,579
Asaka Bank	1,404.4	3.04%	14,859	166	10,087
Aloqabank	1,694.4	3.67%	14,116	260	49,136
Mikrokreditbank	1,410.9	3.05%	23,758	844	9,143
Kapitalbank	725.1	1.57%	14,292	1,754	12,034
Turon Bank	665.5	1.44%	13,737	440	5,289
Qishloq Qurilish Bank	644.2	1.39%	15,822	440	5,001
Trastbank	503.8	1.09%	12,656	301	10,407
other banks	8,842.4	19.14%	63,171	13,389	67,073
Total (all banks)	46,206.0	100.00%	429,334	26,655	254,719
Source: Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Outlook – By mid-2024, Uzbek card issuers face the following notable challenges:

• The use of the digital identification mechanism (Face ID) integrated into mobile applications
• The QR-online system that allows for instant payments using QR codes without a card and bank terminals
• Rollout of online/mobile bank payment services combined with mobile apps
• Implementation of 3D-Secure 2.3; launch of digital wallets, in-app payments, in-store payments
• Competition from card-less payment service providers: PISPs, AISPs, FinTechs
• Tokenisation security combined with HCE NFC and card credentials stored-on-file
• Open Banking ecosystem and demanded access to card accounts (XS2A)

Card Processors and PSPs

In Europe, the payment processing industry is composed of card processors, ATM/POS network hub processors, e-/m-payment service processors (PSPs), and specialised processors (e.g. CSM processors, TSM services).

In Uzbekistan, card issuer processing services range from technical issuer processing, including card printing, to full cardholder processing services. They include all types of cards and card technologies allowing for card use at multiple channels (i.e. at ATMs, POS terminals, on the internet and in-store – mobile payments in the future).

Acquirer processing services in the country range from technical acquirer processing, including POS terminal services, to full merchant processing services.

Usually, ATM/POS network processing is part of acquirer processing while payments on the internet are routed by specialised e-/m-payment service processors (PSPs) to the card acquirers and independent payment service providers (e.g. PayPal), respectively.

The leading processors in Uzbekistan are the Common Republican Processing Centre (CRPC). All bank branches, ATMs, banking kiosks and POS terminals are interconnected to the CRPC. Uzpromstroybank also offers third-party processing services to other Uzbek banks.

In February 2010, VISA introduced the national net settlement service, Uz NNSS, with Uzpromstroybank as settlement agent. The NNSS system allows Uzbek banks to carry out interbank settlements via VISA cards in national currency.

In April 2013, Agrobank completed the implementation of a new in-house solution ensuring issuing and acceptance of VISA payment cards.

In August 2014, Orient Finans Bank completed the implementation of a new in-house solution ensuring issuing and acceptance of Mastercard cards.

CPRC – Within the framework of the Decree of Cabinet of Ministers № 445 “On measures for further development of the system of payments based on plastic cards”, issued on September 24, 2004, the Unified Republic-wide Processing Center was created, which allowed the use of banking transactions, in a single mode, on all POS regardless of which bank serves the trade firm, service company or card holder. In 2022, the CPRC serviced 33 commercial banks that issue domestic UzCard cards. The CRPC established the interbank payment clearing system for UzCard cards in UZS denomination.

In 2023, the Unified Republic-wide Processing Center (CPRC) continued to advance its services and infrastructure, significantly enhancing the interbank payment clearing system for UzCard cards denominated in UZS. The CPRC, which serviced 33 commercial banks issuing domestic UzCard cards in 2022, expanded its network to include additional financial institutions and improved the integration of its systems to facilitate more seamless and faster transactions across all POS terminals nationwide.

Online Payment Service Processors (PSPs) 

Online payment service providers (PSPs) are specialised technical processors for all kind of secure online payments and mobile payments. Some of them also offer virtual PSP platform services (VPSP) for bank acquirers who want to take advantage of a kind of ‘internet network processor’.

Online shops of merchants are directly connected by an API interface or a hosted payment page either to the internet payment gateway of a bank acquirer, or they are connected to multi-acquirers through a PSP.

PSPs usually partner with more than one card acquirer and payment initiation service providers. Core services offered by PSPs may include payment gateways to card acquirers and other online payment service providers, online payment processing, risk management services, and collection services for merchants.

Security technologies applied to ensure secure online card payments include EMV tokenisation and strong 3D-Secure (MCSC, VbV, SafeKey) combined with one-time tokens. For card-less payment services, the security technologies applied include userID/password combined with one-time tokens and online banking access with one-time TAN.

The leading online payment service processors in the country are the UPRC and UZPAYNET.

Acquiring and Acceptance

In Europe, most acquirers offer multi-channel card acceptance and value-added merchant services at POS terminals, mobile MPOS terminals and online shops. The leading acquirers usually offer their services cross-border.

In addition, innovative acquirers also offer the acceptance of card-less payment services based on partner agreements with the issuer of those payment services (e.g. account-based payments, wallets, prepaid products).

Most acquirers either operate their own acquirer systems and ATM/POS/MPOS network service hubs, or they use the processing services of external processors. In order to service online merchants in Europe, they might operate their own PSP processing platforms, or they co-operate with one or more specialised online payment service processors (PSPs).

From 2012, Eurasian acquirers compete in their home markets, cross-border in the CIS region, cross-channel at POS terminals and servicing online merchants. From 2016, innovative acquirers started to offer omni-channel and multi-payment acceptance.

By mid-2024, omni-channel acceptance includes the ability to service all channels (i.e. POS/MPOS terminals, mobile in-store, online shops, in-app), and to accept multiple payment means in all of these channels. Multi-payment services demanded by merchants include cards, online bank payments, online wallets, digital wallets, and prepaid products.

Outlook – By mid-2024, Uzbek acquirers face the following notable challenges:

• Rollout of contactless and virtual POS/MPOS terminals; Interchange++
• Competition from pan-regional and global acquirers; M&A consolidation
• Complete acquirer service portfolio beyond cards, i.e. acceptance of card-less payment services
• Omni-channel payment acceptance: POS/MPOS, online, mobile in-app, mobile in-store
• Cross-border competition, omni-channel competition, finding PSP partners and PISP partners
• New security standards: e.g. 3D-Secure 2.3, tokenisation security, Strong Customer Authentication

All Uzbek issuer banks acquire the UzCard, Mastercard and VISA card brands. Ipak Yuli Bank is the UnionPay acquirer.

The leading acquirers are Agrobank, Xalq Banki, National Bank of Uzbekistan, and Ipoteka Bank. Other major acquirers include Asaka Bank, Mikrokreditbank and Uzpromstroxbank.

In January 2021, Uzpromstroybank launched JCB merchant acquiring across Uzbekistan.

Table 6 illustrates the card brands accepted by the Uzbek acquirers as of mid-2024.

6 - Leading Acquirers in Uzbekistan
Domestic Acquirers	Acceptance Brands offered	Owned by
Agrobank	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	State: 44.73%, FRD Fund (UZ): 54.12%, legal entities(1.09%), individuals; 0.07
Xalq Banki (People's Bank)	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	FRD Fund: 77.6%, Ministry of Finance: 22.4%
National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU)	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	State only: 100%
Ipoteka Bank	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	State: 19.14%, OTP Bank Plc; 79.58%, Individuals; 0.33%, Other Legal Entities; 0.95
Asaka Bank	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	State: 1.34, Ministry Finance (UZ): 98.33%, others; 0.33%
Mikrokreditbank	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	State: 70.82%, FRD Fund: 28.15%, others: 1.03%
Uzpromstroybank	Mastercard, VISA, JCB; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	State, FRD Fund (UZ) 82.09%; UZ state companies(13.06%), Others ; 4.85
other acquirer banks	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	other bank owners
Source: PCM research

ATM Terminal Infrastructure

All ATMs are interconnected to the national ATM network of the CRPC. Based on Uzbekistan’s population of 36.02 million, ATM terminal density is at relatively low levels. With the government pushing hard for non-cash payments, the ATM network has grown by a CAGR of 31.19% in the past 5 years.

Accepted card brands at most Uzbek ATMs are debit cards (UzCard, Mastercard, Maestro, VISA, and Electron) and credit cards (Mastercard, VISA, American Express, Diners, Discover, JCB, and UnionPay). Accepted card brands at ATMs also include Cirrus, Plus and Pulse. The EMV migration of ATM terminals continued.

According to the CBU, there were 26,655 ATMs and self-service kiosks at end-2023, up by 30.80% from 2022. The amount of cash withdrawn from bank cards in 2021 was UZS 64.7 trillion, compared to UZS 43.9 trillion in 2020. UZKART comprised UZS 42.3 trillion of ATM withdrawals, with HUMO comprising UZS 22.4 trillion, compared to UZS 31.6 trillion and UZS 12.3 trillion respectively in 2020. The share of HUMO in total ATM withdrawals rose to 49% in 2022 compared to 35% in 2021.

7 - ATMs in Uzbekistan
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	GR 22/23	CAGR 5Y
ATMs and self-service kiosks	9,203	11,800	12,940	20,379	26,655	30.80%	31.19%
# ATM terminals per 1m capita - Uzbekistan	276.7	348.0	374.4	577.8	739.9	28.06%	28.64%
# ATM terminals per 1m capita - EA10 total	728.9	713.6	698.7	679.4	706.3	3.96%	-0.17%
Source: Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Among individual banks, Kapitalbank had 1,754 ATMs and self-service kiosks in 2023, Xalq Banki operated 3,186, while Agrobank reported 2,155 (see Table 5).

POS Terminal Infrastructure

Starting from March 1, 2017, all business entities, including individual entrepreneurs in the sphere of retail trade and provision of services, were forbidden to carry out their activities without POS terminals capable of receiving payments from the population through plastic cards, according to the corresponding presidential decree.

All POS terminals are interconnected to the national POS network of the CRPC. With government pushing hard for non-cash payments, the POS networks in Uzbekistan have grown by 15.75% in the past five years.

Accepted card brands at most Uzbek POS terminals are debit cards (Mastercard, Maestro, VISA, and Electron), and credit cards (Mastercard, VISA, American Express, Diners, Discover, JCB and UnionPay). In 2022, the EMV migration of POS terminals continued.

The Central Bank of Uzbekistan reported 429,334 POS terminals in 2023, decreased by 1.08% from 2022. According to CBU statistics, POS transactions worth UZS 177.67 trillion were made in 2022, compared to UZS 111.13 trillion in 2021. UZCARD transactions comprised UZS 82.3 trillion while HUMO comprised UZS 28.8 trillion.

8 - POS Terminals in Uzbekistan
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	GR 22/23	CAGR 5Y
POS terminals	392,361	438,410	433,384	434,018	429,334	-1.08%	11.88%
# POS terminals per 1m capita - Uzbekistan	11,572.3	12,685.9	12,287.2	12,047.7	11,666.7	-3.16%	9.64%
# POS terminals per 1m capita - EA10 total	15,041.9	17,950.0	19,042.0	21,172.0	23,259.9	9.86%	12.48%
Source: Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Among individual banks, Xalq Banki and NBU have emerged as leaders, closely followed by Ipoteka, and AgroBank. These four accounted for 167,763 POS terminals – 39.1% of the national total as at end-2023. Ipoteka Bank reported 40,318 POS terminals while NBU reported 40,889 POS terminals (see Table 5).

MPOS Terminals – Small and mobile merchants have started to use their smartphones and tablet PCs as mini-POS+ECR device with added chip reader dongle. Also, merchants can initiate MOTO-like card payments on smartphones and tablets by downloading a payment app.

In December 2012, Square clones like iZettle, SumUp and others launched their services in Europe and are expected to support Uzbek merchants in the future.

Remote Internet Payments – Cards & More

Uzbekistan is a small emerging e-commerce market in Eurasia with people starting to purchase online more often.

In Uzbekistan, owing to introduction of payment system UZKART and implementing a number of projects to make payment using mobile devices and computers at any time and in any place, there is an actively developing new business segment – e-commerce. The Law on Electronic Commerce was adopted in 2004 and further amended in 2015. E-commerce is slowly gaining momentum, although customs regulations and the lack of international e-commerce platforms available in the country have dampened growth in recent years.

E-commerce is still underdeveloped in Uzbekistan, and it is only now starting to become a priority. In May 2018, the Uzbek President signed a decree “On measures for the accelerated development of e-commerce” and approved the “Program for the Development of E-commerce in Uzbekistan for 2018-2021”. As a result, the market is expected to grow significantly in the next few years.

The rollout of mobile payment services is expected to help e-commerce grow significantly over the next few years. Most Uzbek banks allow customers to link their bank cards to their smartphones. Social media platforms such as Facebook are used by Uzbek consumers to buy products such as health and beauty items.

According to statistics from UZKART, in 2019 the number of e-commerce transactions increased by 34.8 million transactions over 2018 to reach 344.3 million (+11.2%). E-commerce value increased by UZS 8.8 trillion (+108.8%) for a total value of UZS 17 trillion.

In 2020, e-commerce generated $481.3 million revenue in 2020 and constituted 68% of total digital revenues in Uzbekistan. Digital expenditures in Uzbekistan are low, comprising 1.2% of consumer spending per capita in 2020. E-commerce revenues are expected to grow annually by 6.3% by 2025.

In July 2022, Uzbekistan’s government announced the launch of the “Open Digital Ecosystem” including the Center for Digital Transformation under the supervision of the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade. The income tax rate of e-commerce platform operators integrated into the Digital Ecosystem will be reduced by 50% until January 1, 2024.

Internet Use – As of end-2023, the number of internet users in Uzbekistan was estimated at 29.52 million, comprising 25.3 million mobile internet users and 3.2 million fixed broadband internet users. In 2023, the level of Internet penetration in Uzbekistan was 83.3%.

Cards on the Internet (CNP) – All cards with international brands are accepted in Uzbek online shops after the merchant has signed an acceptance contract. Uzbek banks have started to issue prepaid cards and virtual cards for internet use only.

Leading online shops in Uzbekistan offer remote payments on cards based on security standards like SSL with CVC2/CVV2 code and 3D-Secure (Mastercard SecureCode, Verified by VISA). Further, web-based MOTO services are offered to Uzbek merchants by their acquirers.

The e-Payment Mix in Uzbekistan – In 2022, remote payment means offered by the merchants in online shops were dominated by cards followed by bank transfers and card-on-delivery.

In 2023, the remote payment landscape in Uzbekistan saw significant shifts. While cards remained a popular payment method, there was notable growth in the usage of digital wallets and mobile payments.

Remote Payments on the Mobile Internet – Since 2013, online buyers have started to use their smartphones for shopping on the mobile internet. Mobile online shops can be accessed by mobile internet, by mobile app, or by scanning a 2D QR-code displayed, for example, in a newspaper or at a bus station. Thus, remote mobile payments are executed by either using the e-payment page of the mobile shop or by using payment apps of a PSP or an acquirer.

Also, Uzbek merchants can download a payment app from their acquirer in order to initiate MOTO payments with cards and/or online direct debits. Leading Uzbek merchants are believed to consider their own apps including loyalty functions (e.g. e-vouchers, discounts, outlet finder, QR-code scanning) in the future.

Mobile Payments – Overview 

In 2023, the active mobile subscriber penetration in Uzbekistan amounted to 105% of the population, with more than 25 million people accessing the internet from mobile devices.

There were 29.52 million internet users in Uzbekistan at the start of 2024, when internet penetration stood at 83.3%. Uzbekistan was home to 8.70 million social media users in January 2024, equating to 24.6% of the total population.

Since 2013, the next generation of mobile services and payments has started, pushed by the online buyers’ high affinity to smartphones and tablets and, also, by new disruptive technologies (1D-barcodes, QR-code, Bluetooth BLE and NFC).

Mobile initiatives in Uzbekistan, if any, are trialling new technologies either as initiating form factors to bridge to online shops on the internet (1D-barcodes, QR-code, NFC) or to enable contactless access to the retail POS outlet (1D-barcodes, QR-code, BLE, Bluetooth Low Energy, NFC Stickers, Mobile NFC Phones) e.g.:

• To enable access to online shops for any type of mobile devices (e.g. tablets, iPhones, Androids)
• To enable mobile services and payments initiated by consumers’ tablets or smartphones at ATMs, at vending machines, at smart posters and at POS terminals in retail outlets
• To enable small merchants’ tablets and smartphones by adding MPOS terminal devices for payment services.

The Uzbek m-Payment Mix – In 2021, the mobile apps of payment organisations accounted for 58.1 million transactions compared to 25.5 million transactions in 2020. In 2022, through mobile applications, total transactions (deposits, conversion operations, loan repayment, and microloans) online deposits made through mobile applications amounted to UZS 56.6 trillion.

As of 1 January 2024, 13 electronic money systems were included in the register of electronic money systems of the Central Bank, the number of electronic wallets opened in these systems increased from 8.4 million in January 2023 to 15.6 million. Mobile Payment Initiatives 

In 2024, the various European mobile payment initiatives can be grouped into

• Non-bank players like FinTechs, payment initiation service provider (PISPs), and account information service providers (AISPs) launch digital payment services beyond cards
• Innovative banks which launch mobile banking apps allowing for card-less in-app payments and payments on the internet
• Leading banks which pilot mobile HCE NFC payments with the card credentials stored-on-file in the cloud (HCE)
• Banks partnering with mobile network operators in order to offer mobile SIM SE NFC payments on cards with the card credentials stored in a secure element on SIM card of the mobile device
• Innovative retailers which offer their own apps with loyalty and payment functions to their consumers

In December 2019, CBU became the first bank in Uzbekistan to launch the VISA Direct service for holders of VISA payment cards. This service provides the transfer of funds from card to card via the Milliy mobile app to relatives and friends in Uzbekistan and to the CIS countries 24/7. VISA Direct is a technology that enables real-time payments between different VISA cards.

In 2022, the FinTech platform Humans entered the Uzbek market, offering a super app combining FinTech and mobile payment services and an e-commerce marketplace. Humans has more than 2 million active users. As of mid-2022, there were 750,000 activated Humans VISA bank cards, including plastic and virtual ones, with 253,000 cards being activated in H1 2022 alone, 62% more than in H1 2021.

In 2022, Humans’ earnings in dollar terms amounted to $34.9 million, 38% higher than the previous year. The ecosystem’s turnover for this past year grew by 230% by comparison with 2021 and reached 1.72 trillion UZS, which equates to $156.7 million. Also, the number of active users of telecommunications services within the Humans ecosystem exceeded the 1.34 million marks, a 20% increase from 2021. The average transaction amount for the Humans VISA card has also increased in 2022 to UZS 158,000 ($14.5), 415% more than for 2021.

In 2022, Humans bought UPay payment service in a bid to build a digital ecosystem using one of the most developed fintech products on the local market given its technological expertise and a strong team.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CDBC) – The Digital Cash Challenge 

Central bank digital currency (CBDC), also called digital fiat currency or digital base money, is a digital currency issued by a national central bank (NCB), rather than by a commercial bank. It is also a liability of the NCB and denominated in the sovereign currency, as is the case with physical banknotes and coins.

All CBDCs are under the authority of the respective national central bank, and they are part of the domestic cash payment ecosystem. Rather than a new currency, CBDC is a form of central bank electronic money that could be used by households and businesses to make payments. In addition, most CBDC implementations will likely not use or need any sort of distributed ledger such as a blockchain.

Unlike “retail CBDC,” which is generally designed as a central bank liability universally accessible to individuals and businesses within a jurisdiction’s financial system, “wholesale CBDC” refers to a digitized central bank liability designed for sizable (generally interbank) transactions, and for which access is limited to certain financial institutions.

National Central Banks (NCBs) have been providing trusted money to the public for hundreds of years as part of their public policy objectives. Trusted money is a public good. It offers a common unit of account, store of value and medium of exchange for the sale of goods and services and settlement of financial transactions. Providing cash for public use is an important tool for central banks. Yet the world is changing.

Even before COVID-19, cash use for payments was declining fast and convenient digital payments have grown enormously in volume and diversity. To evolve and pursue their public policy objectives in a digital world, central banks are actively researching the pros and cons of offering a digital currency to the public, a “general purpose” CBDC.

Central banks’ interest in CBDC has increased as a potential means of delivering their public policy objectives. Profound, ongoing changes across finance, technology, and society, as well as the recent COVID-19 crisis, provided additional impetus for the research of, and experimentation related to, CBDCs.

CBDC is a national digital currency issued by the central bank that is expected to replace or coexist with fiat money and hold the same value. Mobile money, on the other hand, utilises existing commercial banking-based accounting to manage customer wallet balances based on an exchange with cash or lines of credit and loans.

CBDC is a direct liability on the central bank as it is the main issuer of the currency, whereas digital money is the liability of commercial banks and other authorised financial institutions using funds on account. Although some implementation approaches propose that CBDC can be implemented in either an indirect or hybrid form, its liability remains on the respective national central bank.

National CBDC Initiatives

As of October-2024, the CBU had not made any public commitment to exploring the use of a CBDC in Uzbekistan.

Unregulated Cryptocurrency Products – Background 

Regulators and national central banks are challenged by unregulated independent cryptocurrency products. Whereas CBDCs are under the authority of the central bank, almost all cryptocurrencies are decentralised, and not controlled or managed by any central authority.

Obviously, financial market authorities and the national central banks are not in favour of unregulated cryptocurrency products, and they see them as a systematic risk to the financial system. Their intention to regulate the respective cryptocurrency exchange platforms has gained momentum.

Cryptocurrencies, originally designed as a store of value, are digital assets, developed and maintained on decentralised blockchains, and they can be used as a medium of exchange or payment method. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most popular forms of cryptocurrencies worldwide used by consumers and businesses for transactions.

As of 2022, over 400 million people worldwide used cryptocurrencies, with merchants and businesses in more sectors accepting it as a form of payment. The major payment schemes VISA and Mastercard, PayPal, and along with a growing number of financial institutions, have launched services allowing consumers to purchase or use cryptocurrencies for a range of applications.

According to a 2022 Deloitte survey, around two-thirds (64%) of surveyed merchants indicated that their customers have a significant interest in using digital currencies for payments, and 83% expect consumer interest in digital currencies for payments to increase or significantly increase over the next 12 months.

In addition, merchants are motivated by the prospect of enabling immediate access to funds (40% of respondents), taking advantage of blockchain-based innovations in decentralised digital finance (39%), and allowing in-house management of the revenue cycle/treasury/finance department (39%).

Over half (54%) of large retailers (with revenues of $500 million and up) have invested more than $1 million on enabling digital currency payments, while only 6% of small retailers (with revenues of under $10 million) did so.

A 2022 survey from Checkout.com found a sharp rise in people wanting to use cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, with 40% of 18-35-year-old consumers citing their desire to experiment with using crypto as a payment method, up from less than 30% in 2021. Meanwhile, over 80% of businesses say offering crypto has attracted new customers, leading to a decrease in chargebacks, while just over 60% have seen higher authorisation rates accepting crypto payments.

Current estimates put cryptocurrency ownership in Europe at around 18 million people.

Uzbekistan’s first licensed crypto exchange Uznex was launched in January 2020 and only allows selling of cryptocurrencies within the country’s regulatory framework. Crypo trading was legalised in 2018 but in 2019 the government banned citizens from buying crypto. In 2020 the government proposed reforms to encourage crypto usage in the country, including a national mining pool and crypto tax exemptions.

In May 2022, a Presidential Decree was signed, providing definitions for crypto assets, exchanges and mining, along with determining the main regulatory body for crypto. The National Agency for Perspective Projects (NAPP) will become the country’s main crypto watchdog.

The regulatory body has been tasked to implement the state policy on crypto and will also take charge of introducing blockchain technologies to the public sector.

The decree defines crypto assets as property rights representing a collection of digital records in a distributed ledger that have value and owner. Starting from January 2023, Uzbekistan’s citizens and companies will be allowed to buy, sell, and exchange cryptocurrencies through crypto service providers.

The President’s order lists a number of entities that fall under this category, including digital asset exchanges, mining pools, crypto depositories, and crypto stores. They will be required to register as local businesses and obtain licenses or mining certificates from the government agency.

Market Size and Dynamics

Cards in Issue

In 1995 for the first time in Uzbekistan, credit and debit payment cards in national currency were put into circulation.

From July 2015, the Uzbek banks issued EMV cards branded with the new UzCard logo.

According to the CBU, as of 2022, there were about 34 million cards issued in Uzbekistan, of which 23 million were Uzcard cards and 7 million were Humo cards. The number of cards increased by 17% compared to December 2020.

Based on CBU figures, there were 46.20 million cards in Uzbekistan by end-2023. Total cards issued represented an increase of 34.12% from 2022 and was equivalent to 1.26 cards per capita. By July 2022, the number of debit cards in circulation had increased to 30 million.

As of January 1, 2024, Uzbekistan had 73.7 million Visa payment cards in circulation.

From 2022 to 2023, Uzbekistan introduced 328,100 MasterCard cards into circulation.

9 - Cards Issued in Uzbekistan
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	GR 22/23	CAGR 5Y
Cards issued	20,547,366	25,775,662	27,105,785	34,195,648	46,205,950	35.12%	21.17%
Value of card transactions (UZSm)	71,020,181	81,000,000	111,136,942	177,671,013	254,719,135	43.37%	31.94%
Value of card transactions ($m)	7,180.4	7,731.3	10,254.7	15,827.5	20,643.8	30.43%	na
Payment cards per capita - Uzbekistan	0.61	0.75	0.77	0.95	1.26	32.28%	18.74%
Payment cards per capita - EA10 total	1.50	1.65	1.82	2.09	2.42	15.79%	11.57%
Note: the Uzbek Som was devalued by the Central Bank on 5th September 2017 (see transaction value 2017 in $).
Source: Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Card Fraud

Card fraud is one of the most fascinating aspects of the payments industry, not least because it is relentless and mutating. EMV implementation and 3D-Secure, combined with Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), have done much to reduce domestic losses from lost and stolen cards in Europe. However, the war against fraud losses and the changing face of fraud continues to be a threat for the payments industry, including Uzbekistan.

The global card fraud challenges are Card-Not-Present fraud (CNP), cross-border fraud, and counterfeiting on non-EMV cards. CNP fraud accounted for 80% of the total value of card fraud losses in 2020. From 2017, a new payment fraud category are fraud losses on contactless card payments. International card fraud continues to be smaller in scale than domestic card abuse but is proportionately far more common. And of course, fraudulent cross-border transactions on cards continue to grow on all purchase channels.

Losses from card fraud on the internet and cross-border fraud on domestic cards have grown significantly. Following EMV implementation, card fraud has moved increasingly to countries where POS terminals or online shops have not yet been migrated to EMV and SCA, respectively, and to cross-border fraud with compromised cards.

The breakdown of card fraud losses by method of compromise already indicates the importance of distinguishing between domestic and cross-border fraud losses. The method of compromise covers the means by which fraudsters obtain payment cards or card details. Notable methods of compromise in a complex payment world are CNP fraud based on theft of card credentials and card lost and stolen fraud followed by growing ID fraud and by cross-counterfeit fraud.

The main method of compromise responsible for losses in many European countries is now the theft of card credentials. A high proportion of these card fraud losses are caused by the growth in e-commerce, and still the lack of use of Strong Customer Authentication methods such as 3D-Secure.

In a post data-breach world, identity information, payment credentials, account credentials and responses to security questions are widely available for purchase in bulk. Complete fraud exploits and zero-day attacks are also easily available on the black market for outright purchase or as a hosted / fully managed service.

In the digital payments world and having the changing face of fraud in mind, there are significant challenges for card issuing banks, payment service providers and their supporting processors.

According to the CBU, in 2021, the card fraud loss rate in Uzbekistan was not significant.

As most POS card transactions are authorised online-to-issuer, acquirer fraud rates in Uzbekistan are under control except for offline vending machines, e-commerce and other hotspots.

Credit card fraud prevention measures taken have been pushing 3D-Secure, updating bank fraud prevention systems and real-time-scoring, implementing more rule-based fraud control mechanisms. Also, issuers offer PIN selection at ATMs and SMS notification to inform cardholders about the use of their credit card.

Card Use

According to CBU, in 2023, the total transaction value on Uzbek cards was UZS 254. 72 trillion (+43.37% Vs 2022) amounting to $20.64 billion as calculated in USD.

The average card transactions value per capita in 2023 accounted for $692.2, calculated in USD.

However, CBU does not provide other card use statistics.

Card Use per Capita

CBU does not provide other card use per capita statistics.

Debit Card Use

CBU does not report details on debit cards by number and debit cards use.

Credit Card Use

CBU does not report details on debit cards by number and debit cards use.

Leading Card Issuers

Agrobank said it had 4.5 million cards appropriately in circulation in 2023. Though focused on supporting the agricultural sector, Agrobank mentions the development of card issuance as a key goal in its strategy statement. Agrobank issues UzCard and HUMO cards and is a VISA and Mastercard issuer, with Classic and Gold programmes.

National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU) reported 3.33 million payment cards at the end-2023 equivalent to 9.18% of the national card base. From 2013, NBU clients have been able to use the CLICK system to make online payments for mobile operator services, for city and international calls, and to make utility payments.

The range of operations carried out through the Milliy mobile app, which is used by more than 150,000 customers, has significantly increased over the past two years.

NBU planned to become a principal member of the schemes Mastercard and UnionPay by end-2015, but as of 2018 had only become a member of Mastercard. In 2019, the bank began issuing co-branded VISA Gold and Platinum cards with airline UzAir and launched VISA Business cards for legal entities. Since March 2019 its e-commerce service is available for Mastercard cards. It also began a project to issue VISA contactless PayWave cards and virtual cards through its mobile app. During 2019 the bank also launched the first VISA Infinite premium card in Uzbekistan. The bank also began issuance of HUMO national payment system cards for all clients. As of the end of 2021, the number of HUMO cards issued amounted to over 250,000 cards.

In 2023, the CBU announced that 24 banks completed the integration of HUMO and Uzcard ATMs, and As a result, 92% of the 12,339 ATMs in Uzbekistan started serving both Humo and Uzcard cards.

In 2020, NBU initiated the issuance of the Mastercard Virtual card, opened in the bank’s Milliy mobile banking app. The product line will be expanded with Standard, Gold, Platinum Mastercard, and World Elite Mastercard cards. In March 2021, NBU received PCI DSS certification.

10 - NBU Cards Overview
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	GR 22/23	CAGR 5Y
Cards issued	2,384,325	2,784,409	2,817,052	3,050,591	3,330,757	9.18%	1.39%
NBU market share cards	11.6%	10.8%	10.4%	8.9%	7.2%	-19.20%	-16.33%
Value of card payments (UZSbn)	9,131.0	na	na	na	na	na	na
POS terminals	36,118	37,857	39,695	40,413	40,732	0.79%	11.57%
NBU market share POS terminals	9.2%	8.6%	9.2%	9.3%	9.5%	1.89%	-0.27%
Note: NBU hasn't release AR since 2020, therefore no other datapoint except from card issued
Source: National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU).

Xalq Banki (People’s Bank) discloses little information about its card operations but reported 10.9 million Xalq cards issued as at end-2023. Xalq cooperates with the German Savings Banks Fund for International Cooperation and is a member of the World Savings Banks Institute.

Xalq Banki issues VISA cards and soum payment cards for free. The UzCard cards can be used to make payments in retail networks and petrol stations, as well as utility and mobile phone payments. Cardholders can pay most other bills in bank branches. The bank also issues HUMO domestic cards, MIR and UnionPay cards.

Asaka Bank began to issue soum plastic cards in May 1999. It issues UzCard cards, including cards linked to salary schemes. It is also a Maestro and Mastercard issuer and was the first Uzbek bank to develop a fully functioning in-house processing centre for processing Mastercard cards. In 2023, the bank reported 1.4 million issued cards.

Uzpromstroybank issues UzCard cards and is a VISA issuer, with Classic and Gold programmes. It has a stated policy of developing retail banking based on the rapid spread of card products, with 2.38 million cards issued at end-2023.

Ipoteka Bank claims to be one of the largest participants in the UZKART system. Central bank figures showed Ipotekabank with 3.8 million cards at end-2023. It issues UzCard, HUMO, and VISA cards.

Kapitalbank issues VISA cards. The bank said that the development of the cards business was one of its key aims. The latest available figure, from the central bank, showed 725,100 cards at end-2023.

Ipak Yuli Bank issues cards branded UzKart, VISA, HUMO and UnionPay. It has been a member of the international payment system VISA International, since 2008. It began issuing China UnionPay cards in 2009. From November 2015, it issues contactless VISA Platinum cards with payWave function. In 2023, the bank reported 2.80 million cards in circulation. In March 2017, Ipak Yuli Bank claimed it is the largest issuer of UnionPay cards in Uzbekistan.

As well as debit/ATM functions, its UzCard cards offer an overdraft facility. The corporate client acts as guarantor of any loan taken up under the facility and repayment of the loan is made out of salary payments on the basis agreed. In August 2017, Ipak Yuli Bank was the first bank in Uzbekistan to offer the 3D-Secure service, Verified-by-VISA, to customers.

The following services are available at the bank self-service terminals of Ipak Yuli Bank:

• Payments for utilities: gas, waste disposal and cold water
• Online payments via: Malina.uz, Megaskidka.uz, Websum.uz
• Payments for mobile services: Ucell and Beeline
• Payments for landline telephone
• Payments for Internet services

International Money Transfers

With its diversified economy and solid growth rates, Uzbekistan’s economy is less dependent on international money transfers than some neighbouring countries. Remittances accounted for about 8.5% and 7.7% of the country’s gross domestic product and gross national income, respectively in 2023 (2022: 21%) due to large inflows from Russia. According to the National Bank of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan became the leading recipient in money transfers from Kazakhstan at the end of 2023 with 27.5% of remittance flows from Kazakhstan going to Uzbekistan.

Active money transfer service providers In Uzbekistan include WesternUnion, InterExpress, Zolotoya Korona, Moneygram, Anelik, and Unistream.

In July 2016, Tempo Money Transfer and Unistream built on a collaborative venture that has led to an increase of 11,000 pay-out locations for Tempo in Europe. Clients can now send money from Tempo’s locations in Germany and France and collect cash in Unistream’s pay-out locations in Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Romania, and Tajikistan, as well as Turkey and Uzbekistan.

In July 2019, the global system WebMoney Transfer announced its market entry to Uzbekistan and introduced a WMY wallet in Uzbekistan Som. WebMoney allows customers to pay for mobile communication, the Internet, utilities and online games. WMY will be accepted by global and national service providers. It is possible to pay via WebMoney not just for online purchases – the system also provides solutions for accepting cashless payments with a QR-code for owners of cafes, restaurants, and shops.

NBU claimed to be the key player in money transfers into Uzbekistan, most of which are from Russia. Much of the transfer business is conducted with its Moscow-based affiliate, Asia-Express Bank.

CBU began activity in remittances after signing a working agreement with the Western Union in 2001. In its annual report, for 2015, CBU said that since 2002, its servicing outlets had conducted a total of about 1.7 million transactions, with a total value of $1.1 billion. This included 101,000 operations in 2015, with the total value (sent and received) of $66.9 million. Since 2015, CBU has provided no further updates regarding its money transfer operations.

11 - Value of NBU’s International Money Transfers
(UZS bn)	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	GR 18/19	CAGR 5Y
Sent	27.1	19.7	18.5	29.6	31.4	6.15%	-3.44%
Received	44.1	45.2	87.3	151.4	182.3	20.43%	20.99%
Total	71.2	64.9	105.8	181.0	213.7	18.09%	14.69%
Note: no figures since 2019 have been published by NBU.
Source: National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU).

Data Tables

Market Overview
Payment Organisation	National Interbank Payment System (UZKART).
Domestic Card Brand	UzCard cards.
Market Structure	Historically, more than 80% of cards issued were domestic-only UzCard cards using Duet smart card technology. Since 2015, UzCard cards have been issued as EMV cards branded with the new UzCard logo. From 2018, UzCards are co-badged with UnionPay. 2019 a new national payment card scheme, HUMO, was launched. International cards, mainly VISA-branded, have only a small presence in the market.  Although the state guarantees bank depositors’ funds, the vast majority of payments are in cash, reflecting widespread distrust of the banks. Agrobank and the National Bank of Uzbekistan are the dominant banks. With its diversified economy and solid growth rates, Uzbekistan’s economy is less dependent on international money transfers than some neighboring countries.
Notable Market Trends	Rollout of UzCard EMV cards, contactless cards, and POS terminals.  The effect of the increased digitization brought about by the pandemic resulted in a 43.4% rise in card transaction value in 2023. The number of remote banking users in 2023 was approximately 41 million, a growth of 46.99% from 2022.  As of the beginning of 2023, residents of Uzbekistan can legally engage in crypto transactions but only through licensed providers.
Major Card Issuers	Agrobank, National Bank of Uzbekistan, Xalq Bank, Asaka Bank.
Major Card Acquirers	Agrobank, Xalq Bank, National Bank of Uzbekistan, Ipoteka Bank.
Major Card Processors	Common Republican Processing Centre (CRPC), Uzpromstroybank, National Interbank Processing Centre.

Key Statistics
Population	36,799,800, 1.26 cards per capita
Cards	Total: 46,205,950
Card Transactions	n/a
POS Terminals	429,334
POS Payments	n/a
ATMs	26,655 (including self-service terminals).
ATM Withdrawals	n/a

1 - Banks in Uzbekistan (2023)
.	Ownership	Total Assets (UZSbn)	Total Assets ($bn)	Market share
National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU)	State only: 100%	127,502	10.33	19.55%
Uzpromstroybank	State, FRD Fund (UZ) 82.09%; UZ state companies(13.06%), Others ; 4.85	74,634	6.05	11.44%
Agrobank	State: 44.73%, FRD Fund (UZ): 54.12%, legal entities(1.09%), individuals; 0.07	66,700	5.41	10.23%
Asaka Bank	State: 1.34, Ministry Finance (UZ): 98.33%, others; 0.33%	58,014	4.70	8.90%
Xalq Banki (People's Bank)	FRD Fund: 77.6%, Ministry of Finance: 22.4%	36,603	2.97	5.61%
Qishloq Qurilish Bank	State: 74.45%, FRD Fund (UZ): 23.89%, investors: 1.66%	27,063	2.19	4.15%
Mikrokreditbank	State: 70.82%, FRD Fund: 28.15%, others: 1.03%	19,062	1.54	2.92%
Aloqabank	FRD Fund (UZ): 68.1% Others: 31.9%	16,045	1.30	2.46%
Turonbank	FRD Fund (UZ): 90.09% State: 8.67% Others: 1.24%	15,939	1.29	2.44%
Poytakht Bank	State: 100%	215	0.02	0.03%
Subtotal Banks with state ownership (12)		441,777	35.80	67.74%
Ipoteka Bank	State: 19.14%, OTP Bank Plc; 79.58%, Individuals; 0.33%, Other Legal Entities; 0.95	47,638	3.86	7.30%
Kapitalbank	legal entities: 99.87%, individuals: 0.13%	41,886	3.39	6.42%
Hamkorbank	legal entities: 36.25%, individuals: 59.21%, Others: 4.54%	20,980	1.70	3.22%
Ipak Yuli Bank	legal entities: 86.6%, individuals: 13.4%, Others:	16,866	1.37	2.59%
Orient Finans Bank	legal entities 14.84, individuals 85.2%	13,126	1.06	2.01%
KDB Bank Uzbekistan	KDB Bank Korea: 86.82%, investors: 13.12%	8,845	0.72	1.36%
Trustbank	legal entities, individuals	9,450	0.77	1.45%
Invest Finance Bank	legal entities, individuals	9,571	0.78	1.47%
Asia Alliance Bank	State: 45%, legal entities, individuals	8,029	0.65	1.23%
Tenge Bank	JSC Halyk 100%	6,640	0.54	1.02%
Davr Bank	legal entities, individuals	6,130	0.50	0.94%
Anor Bank	Individual investor: 81.8%, Others; 18.2	4,418	0.36	0.68%
Ziraat Bank Uzbekistan	legal entities, individuals	2,941	0.24	0.45%
Avo Bank	State, investors	177	0.01	0.03%
other small banks (9)		13,683	1.11	2.10%
Subtotal other Banks (21)		210,380	17.05	32.26%
Total - all UZ banks		652,157	52.85	100.00%
Note: the Uzbek Som was devalued on 5th September 2017, a rate of 1USD to UZS 10,476.92 was used for the above figures.
Source: Central Bank of Uzbekistan

2 - Remote Banking Users by Bank end-2023
	Company Clients		Individual Clients		Total	GR 22/23
Agrobank	201,760		5,878,174		6,079,934	40.91%
National Bank of Uzbekistan	97,411		2,001,214		2,098,625	38.69%
Asaka Bank	36,586		1,073,040		1,109,626	17.10%
Aloqabank	64,685		1,604,832		1,669,517	133.80%
Ipoteka (Mortgage) Bank	167,567		3,220,676		3,388,243	44.46%
Mikrokredit Bank	69,672		1,232,520		1,302,192	42.19%
Kapitalbank	35,323		1,296,654		1,331,977	96.87%
Hamkorbank	126,047		1,741,682		1,867,729	46.40%
Qishloq Qurilish Bank	27,085		401,985		429,070	5.08%
Xalq Banki (People's Bank)	120,118		4,587,680		4,707,798	10.78%
Ipak Yuli Bank	61,938		2,353,516		2,415,454	62.18%
Asia Alliance Bank	26,743		614,157		640,900	57.41%
Turon Bank	48,473		530,093		578,566	71.57%
Uzpromstroybank	73,177		6,296,325		6,369,502	32.32%
other banks	183,024		9,927,443		10,110,467	80.80%
Total for all Uzbek banks	1,339,609		42,759,991		44,099,600	46.99%
Source: Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

3 - Year-End Exchange Rates
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
1 EUR in UZS	8,836.79	12,786.03	12,224.88	11,961.85	13,731.82
1 USD in UZS	9,890.90	10,476.92	10,837.66	11,225.46	12,338.77
Note: the Uzbek Som was devalued by the Central Bank on 5th September 2017.
Source: Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan (CBU).

4 - Leading Card Issuers in Uzbekistan
Domestic Issuers	Issued Card Brands	Owned by
Agrobank	VISA; Mastercard; UzCard; HUMO; UnionPay	State: 44.73%, FRD Fund (UZ): 54.12%, legal entities(1.09%), individuals; 0.07
National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU)	VISA; Mastercard; UzCard; HUMO	State: 100%
Xalq Banki (People's Bank)	VISA; UzCard; HUMO; UnionPay; MIR	FRD Fund: 77.6%, Ministry of Finance: 22.4%
Asaka Bank	Mastercard; UzCard; HUMO	State: 1.34, Ministry Finance (UZ): 98.33%, others; 0.33%
Uzpromstroybank	VISA; UzCard; HUMO	State, FRD Fund (UZ) 82.09%; UZ state companies(13.06%), Others ; 4.85
Ipoteka Bank	VISA; Mastercard; UzCard; HUMO	State: 19.14%, OTP Bank Plc; 79.58%, Individuals; 0.33%, Other Legal Entities; 0.95
Mikrokreditbank	Mastercard, VISA; UzCard; UnionPay; HUMO	State: 70.82%, FRD Fund: 28.15%, others: 1.03%
Ipak Yuli Bank	VISA; Mastercard; UnionPay; UzCard; HUMO	legal entities: 86.6%, individuals: 13.4%, Others:
Kapitalbank	VISA; Mastercard; UzCard; HUMO	legal entities: 99.87%, individuals: 0.13%
other banks	VISA; UzCard; Mastercard; MIR; HUMO; UnionPay	other bank owners
Note: effective 2018, all new UzCards are issued as co-branded cards with UnionPay
Source: PCM research

5 - Banks' Key Figures end-2023
Bank	Cards (000s)	Cards (in%)	POS Terminals	ATMs + Self-Service Kiosks	POS Transactions in 2023 (UZSbn)
Xalq Banki (People's Bank)	10,896.3	23.58%	46,652	3,186	8,861
Agrobank	4,451.5	9.63%	39,904	2,155	12,688
National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU)	3,834.4	8.30%	40,889	769	15,277
Ipoteka Bank	3,765.9	8.15%	40,318	731	19,455
Uzpromstroybank	2,376.5	5.14%	33,770	674	10,826
Ipak Yuli Bank	2,803.3	6.07%	23,848	829	8,862
Hamkorbank	2,187.2	4.73%	31,542	717	10,579
Asaka Bank	1,404.4	3.04%	14,859	166	10,087
Aloqabank	1,694.4	3.67%	14,116	260	49,136
Mikrokreditbank	1,410.9	3.05%	23,758	844	9,143
Kapitalbank	725.1	1.57%	14,292	1,754	12,034
Turon Bank	665.5	1.44%	13,737	440	5,289
Qishloq Qurilish Bank	644.2	1.39%	15,822	440	5,001
Trastbank	503.8	1.09%	12,656	301	10,407
other banks	8,842.4	19.14%	63,171	13,389	67,073
Total (all banks)	46,206.0	100.00%	429,334	26,655	254,719
Source: Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

6 - Leading Acquirers in Uzbekistan
Domestic Acquirers	Acceptance Brands offered	Owned by
Agrobank	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	State: 44.73%, FRD Fund (UZ): 54.12%, legal entities(1.09%), individuals; 0.07
Xalq Banki (People's Bank)	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	FRD Fund: 77.6%, Ministry of Finance: 22.4%
National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU)	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	State only: 100%
Ipoteka Bank	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	State: 19.14%, OTP Bank Plc; 79.58%, Individuals; 0.33%, Other Legal Entities; 0.95
Asaka Bank	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	State: 1.34, Ministry Finance (UZ): 98.33%, others; 0.33%
Mikrokreditbank	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	State: 70.82%, FRD Fund: 28.15%, others: 1.03%
Uzpromstroybank	Mastercard, VISA, JCB; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	State, FRD Fund (UZ) 82.09%; UZ state companies(13.06%), Others ; 4.85
other acquirer banks	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Electron; UzKart	other bank owners
Source: PCM research

7 - ATMs in Uzbekistan
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	GR 22/23	CAGR 5Y
ATMs and self-service kiosks	9,203	11,800	12,940	20,379	26,655	30.80%	31.19%
# ATM terminals per 1m capita - Uzbekistan	276.7	348.0	374.4	577.8	739.9	28.06%	28.64%
# ATM terminals per 1m capita - EA10 total	728.9	713.6	698.7	679.4	706.3	3.96%	-0.17%
Source: Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

8 - POS Terminals in Uzbekistan
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	GR 22/23	CAGR 5Y
POS terminals	392,361	438,410	433,384	434,018	429,334	-1.08%	11.88%
# POS terminals per 1m capita - Uzbekistan	11,572.3	12,685.9	12,287.2	12,047.7	11,666.7	-3.16%	9.64%
# POS terminals per 1m capita - EA10 total	15,041.9	17,950.0	19,042.0	21,172.0	23,259.9	9.86%	12.48%
Source: Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

9 - Cards Issued in Uzbekistan
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	GR 22/23	CAGR 5Y
Cards issued	20,547,366	25,775,662	27,105,785	34,195,648	46,205,950	35.12%	21.17%
Value of card transactions (UZSm)	71,020,181	81,000,000	111,136,942	177,671,013	254,719,135	43.37%	31.94%
Value of card transactions ($m)	7,180.4	7,731.3	10,254.7	15,827.5	20,643.8	30.43%	na
Payment cards per capita - Uzbekistan	0.61	0.75	0.77	0.95	1.26	32.28%	18.74%
Payment cards per capita - EA10 total	1.50	1.65	1.82	2.09	2.42	15.79%	11.57%
Note: the Uzbek Som was devalued by the Central Bank on 5th September 2017 (see transaction value 2017 in $).
Source: Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

10 - NBU Cards Overview
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	GR 22/23	CAGR 5Y
Cards issued	2,384,325	2,784,409	2,817,052	3,050,591	3,330,757	9.18%	1.39%
NBU market share cards	11.6%	10.8%	10.4%	8.9%	7.2%	-19.20%	-16.33%
Value of card payments (UZSbn)	9,131.0	na	na	na	na	na	na
POS terminals	36,118	37,857	39,695	40,413	40,732	0.79%	11.57%
NBU market share POS terminals	9.2%	8.6%	9.2%	9.3%	9.5%	1.89%	-0.27%
Note: NBU hasn't release AR since 2020, therefore no other datapoint except from card issued
Source: National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU).

11 - Value of NBU’s International Money Transfers
(UZS bn)	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	GR 18/19	CAGR 5Y
Sent	27.1	19.7	18.5	29.6	31.4	6.15%	-3.44%
Received	44.1	45.2	87.3	151.4	182.3	20.43%	20.99%
Total	71.2	64.9	105.8	181.0	213.7	18.09%	14.69%
Note: no figures since 2019 have been published by NBU.
Source: National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU).