The key facts
- Google Pay has launched in Uzbekistan — Google made the announcement on October 19 in Samarkand at a C5+1 format session
- Apple Pay is expected in the coming days; integration is being carried out by the Central Bank, commercial banks, Humo and Uzcard
- In August, Alipay+ went live on Humo's infrastructure; discussions are underway on integrating UZQR with India's UPI
Google Pay launched, Apple Pay on the way
The Google Pay payment service has started operating in Uzbekistan, and the launch of Apple Pay is expected in the coming days. This was reported by the press service of the Tourism Committee. Technical integration of Apple Pay is being carried out by the Central Bank, commercial banks, as well as the Humo and Uzcard payment systems. According to the agency, tourists can already make contactless payments with a smartphone via Google Pay.
The goal — convenience for tourists
The Tourism Committee noted that the launch of international payment services should give foreign guests the opportunity to use familiar and, in their view, secure payment tools, as well as reduce dependence on cash and international bank cards.
Google's announcement in Samarkand
On October 19, Google announced the launch of Google Pay in Uzbekistan. This was announced by Marcin Krasuski, Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google Cloud for Central and Eastern Europe, during the 'Digital Technologies' panel session held as part of the C5+1 format events between the Central Asian countries and the United States in Samarkand. 'It seems to me that Uzbekistan is one of the leading countries in regulating the digital sphere. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that today Google is launching the GPay service in Uzbekistan — Google Pay,' the Uzbek-language version of Spot.uz quoted him as saying.
Background: legislative changes and negotiations
At the end of July, Jamshid Usmanov, head of the Payment Systems Development Department at the Central Bank, told Spot in an interview that Google Pay and Apple Pay could launch in the country in the coming months. According to him, after changes to the personal data legislation, the Central Bank, together with commercial banks, Humo and Uzcard, began negotiations with Apple and Google and the technical integration of the services. Banks were also working on card tokenization so that not only Visa and Mastercard, but also cards of national payment systems could be added to the services. On March 26, the president signed a law abolishing the mandatory requirement to store all personal data on servers inside Uzbekistan; the restriction remained in place for biometric and genetic data, as well as data of telecom operators' subscribers, while other data may be processed abroad provided the established conditions are met. The Uzbek-language version of Spot.uz also notes that, according to the Central Bank, negotiations on the launch of the services were planned for September, but a launch in that particular month was not scheduled.
Integration with Chinese and Indian payment systems
In August, the Alipay+ payment gateway went live on Humo's infrastructure: users of Alipay and electronic wallets connected to it, primarily tourists from China, can pay for purchases in Uzbekistan via UzQR codes. In addition, Humo and India's NPCI International are discussing practical issues of integrating UZQR with the UPI payment system — if the project is implemented, tourists from India will be able to pay at local retail and service points by scanning a QR code through their familiar apps.
