“Integration of Uzcard and HUMO terminals is planned to be completed by the end of March” – Central Bank

Full integration of the Uzcard and HUMO payment systems is planned to be completed by the end of the first quarter, the First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Nodirbek Saydullayev stated this at a press conference on January 25.

According to him, initially the integration of terminals to ensure work with any cards should have been completed by the end of last year. The delay in completing the full integration of payment systems is due to technical problems – Uzcard and HUMO use different software.

“At the beginning of this year, this terminal integration was launched in test mode in three banks – Trustbank, InfinBank and Apex Bank. I think that by the end of the first quarter, this integration process will be completed throughout the entire banking system,” the First Deputy Chairman Saydullayev said.

The integration of Uzcard and HUMO was provided for by a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers issued back in June 2020. Along with the introduction of online cash registers and QR codes for payment, it was included in the list of measures aimed at reducing the shadow economy in Uzbekistan.

In December 2021, the Central Bank introduced a software update for terminals, which allows them to accept cards from both payment systems. Before this, devices could only work with cards for which the firmware was installed.

The process of system integration started again in January 2023, reported the head of the Central Bank Nurmuratov. Before this, it was necessary to agree on a number of technical and other issues between the state-owned HUMO and the privatized Uzcard.

In March last year, the President instructed to complete the integration of the Uzcard and HUMO payment systems by the end of the year. In Tashkent, before May 1, it was planned to conduct an experiment on withdrawing cash at the checkout counters of retail outlets.

At the end of July, Uzcard and HUMO ATMs were fully integrated. All devices in the country support cards from both payment systems.