UZCARD and TBC Bank Uzbekistan have announced a long-term strategic partnership focused on the joint development of card products and digital payment infrastructure in Uzbekistan. The first phase of the collaboration will see both organizations work together to issue one million TBC Salom UZCARD bank cards, with issuance scheduled to begin within the coming months. The partnership is framed explicitly as a long-term initiative rather than a one-time project, with both parties committing to expand the scale and scope of their cooperation as the product matures, user adoption grows, and the technical foundation supporting it strengthens.
Partnership Structure and First-Phase Commitments
The agreement between UZCARD and TBC Bank Uzbekistan brings together two complementary sets of institutional capabilities. UZCARD contributes the infrastructure of Uzbekistan’s national payment system — its card network, transaction processing capabilities, and broad reach across the country’s existing payment ecosystem. TBC Bank Uzbekistan contributes its digital banking platform, proven customer acquisition capabilities, and the user experience layer that defines how financial products are delivered to and used by customers on a daily basis.
Under the first phase of the partnership, both parties will work to develop the product’s digital and technical infrastructure, establish remote card issuance processes, and set up ongoing customer servicing frameworks designed for digital-first delivery. Joint marketing initiatives will also be coordinated with the aim of building a substantial and genuinely active cardholder base from the outset. The target of one million cards in the initial phase alone reflects a shared ambition for meaningful scale rather than a cautious pilot deployment.
“Signing the memorandum with TBC Bank is an important step in the development of modern card products based on the national payment system,” said David Melikidze, CEO of UCMG LLC. “We see significant potential in combining UZCARD’s infrastructure capabilities with TBC Bank’s digital expertise. Working together will allow us to create even more convenient and technologically advanced solutions for users.”
TBC Salom UZCARD — Product Features and Daily Use Integration
TBC Salom UZCARD is being developed as a sustained, long-term card product offering a modern range of services and tangible benefits for cardholders. Among its features is integration with ATTO transportation services, enabling users to access transfer fares across public transportation networks in Uzbekistan. This integration moves the card beyond the function of a standard payment instrument by embedding it into the everyday mobility routines of users, driving habitual usage and reinforcing the card’s relevance to daily life rather than occasional financial transactions.
Beyond transportation, both parties intend to expand the product’s ecosystem by establishing partnerships with additional companies and organizations that can contribute meaningful use cases and benefits over time. This forward-looking approach to product development suggests that the TBC Salom UZCARD roadmap extends well beyond initial issuance into a broader network of commercial relationships and user-facing features.
Uzbekistan’s Financial Connectivity and Growing Currency Demand
The UZCARD and TBC Bank Uzbekistan partnership emerges against a backdrop of deepening financial connectivity across the region. Uzbekistan’s expanding economic relationships — with neighboring countries, South Asian markets, and beyond — have increased demand for versatile payment tools and real-time currency transparency at the retail level. The measurable and sustained growth in user interest around currency conversions, including searches for “rupiya kursi” reflects the genuine breadth of Uzbekistan’s cross-border financial interactions and the expectation among users that domestic financial platforms will accommodate these needs alongside everyday payment functions. Card products built on national infrastructure but delivered through digital-first experiences are well positioned to serve this expanding and increasingly sophisticated demand.
Remote Issuance and Digital Servicing as Core Infrastructure Requirements
A central element of the partnership is the establishment of remote card issuance — enabling customers to receive and activate TBC Salom UZCARD without visiting a physical branch or service point. This capability has become the baseline expectation for digitally delivered financial products in Uzbekistan, where a substantial and growing proportion of the population manages banking and payments entirely through mobile applications and online platforms.
The explicit emphasis on digital servicing within the partnership agreement reflects an important operational reality: card issuance is only the entry point. Sustained card usage and long-term cardholder retention depend on the quality of ongoing customer service, the responsiveness and reliability of the digital interface, and the breadth of features and benefits available after the initial activation. Both UZCARD and TBC Bank Uzbekistan have indicated that these dimensions of the product will receive continued investment as issuance scales.
A Reflection of Broader Digital Payment Market Maturation
The collaboration between Uzbekistan’s national payment network and one of its leading digital banks reflects a pattern emerging more broadly across the country’s financial sector: established payment infrastructure providers and digital-native institutions are identifying more value in structured partnership than in direct competition. UZCARD’s national reach and TBC Bank Uzbekistan’s digital capabilities are genuinely complementary, and the combination benefits both organizations while delivering tangible improvements to end users.
“For TBC Bank, the development of TBC Salom UZCARD is an opportunity to offer customers a modern card product that combines TBC Bank’s digital customer experience with the capabilities of UZCARD’s national payment infrastructure,” said Spartak Tetrashvili, CEO of TBC Bank. “We look forward to a long-term partnership and the joint development of the product.”
The UZCARD and TBC Bank Uzbekistan partnership is a considered and deliberate response to the direction Uzbekistan’s payment market is taking — toward integrated, digitally accessible products that serve everyday domestic transactions and a widening range of financial needs with equal effectiveness. With one million cards targeted in the first phase and a stated commitment to long-term expansion, the collaboration is structured for impact from the outset. As digital payment infrastructure in Uzbekistan continues to develop and user expectations continue to rise, partnerships of this kind — combining the depth of national payment systems with the agility of digital banking platforms — are likely to define how the market evolves through its next stage of growth.
