Visa cards in Uzbekistan connected to Apple Pay and Google Pay

Visa launches Apple Pay and Google Pay in Uzbekistan

Visa announced that its cards are now available in Apple Pay and Google Pay in Uzbekistan. Cardholders can add their cards to the Wallet app on iPhone or to Google Wallet on Android smartphones and pay for purchases with a smartphone or smartwatch — in stores, cafes, on public transport and online. To pay, simply hold the device near the terminal, and the payment is confirmed via Face ID, Touch ID or the device passcode.

How it works and what changes for users

The services are accepted in grocery stores, pharmacies, taxis, restaurants, coffee shops and retail stores, as well as in apps and on websites — without re-entering card details for every purchase. This applies to paying for food delivery, transport, parking and other services. Security is ensured through tokenization: when a card is added to a digital wallet, its real number is replaced with an encrypted token that works only on a specific device and within a specific service, while the actual card details are neither stored on the device nor shared with the merchant. Setup takes just a few minutes: on iPhone — via the Wallet app, on Android — via Google Wallet; the card can also be linked from the bank's mobile app. All the usual benefits of a Visa card remain in place.

Visa's position

Behzod Abdurakhmanov, Senior Director at Visa in Uzbekistan, called the simultaneous launch of two global mobile payment services a 'logical next step' and noted that users in the country are increasingly choosing contactless payments, while Visa's partner banks are ready to implement the technology. The announcement does not specify which issuing banks connected their cards to the services at launch.