In 2025, major changes are expected in Uzbekistan’s payment ecosystem. The Central Bank is developing a unified QR code system for cashless transactions. This was announced on April 11 during a media briefing by Miraziz Mirhayotov, Deputy Head of the Payment Systems Department of the Central Bank.
What will change?
Currently, merchants are required to place multiple QR codes from various payment providers at their points of sale. This creates inconvenience for customers and unnecessary complexity for businesses.
The Central Bank aims to solve this issue by implementing a single standardized QR code. With this unified QR, customers will be able to:
- Choose any payment app they prefer;
- Complete transactions via any bank or service provider;
- Avoid the need for additional scanners, terminals, or switching between apps.
The full development and rollout of this system is expected to take about one year.
What do the numbers say?
Throughout 2024:
- The number of entrepreneurs using QR codes exceeded 108,000;
- Payments made via QR codes reached 441.79 billion UZS;
- This represents a 31% increase compared to the previous year.
These figures show that cashless payments are rapidly gaining popularity. The unified QR system will further streamline this process.
Why is this beneficial for businesses?
- No need to install POS terminals — reduced costs
- Payments are automatically integrated into the tax system — cashback is calculated automatically
- Convenience for customers — the purchasing process becomes easier
