Digital payments in Uzbekistan: how Uzcard, Humo, Click and Payme work

Cashless payments have spread widely in Uzbekistan in recent years: paying by card, sending money in a phone app, and settling bills by QR code have become part of everyday life. Below, that system — the Uzcard and Humo national card schemes and apps such as Click and Payme — is explained on a facts-only basis.

Uzcard — the national card scheme

Uzcard is Uzbekistan's national card payment scheme, launched in 2004, and is the country's largest domestic card system. It operates through a single processing centre under Central Bank supervision. Uzcard cards are used at domestic ATMs, point-of-sale (POS) terminals, and for online payments.

Humo — the second national scheme

Humo is a second national payment system created on the Central Bank's initiative. Its logo was unveiled in February 2019 and the system was rolled out during 2019; it is run by the National Interbank Processing Centre. Humo was set up to provide competition with Uzcard and interbank interoperability; it established cooperation with Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay for foreign-currency operations.

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Click and Payme — the mobile payment apps

Click and Payme are the most widely used mobile payment apps in the country. The Payme consumer app launched on 25 March 2016; Click was one of the systems that, in the early 2010s, popularised card-to-card peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers, including a USSD service that works in areas with poor internet. On ownership: Payme belongs to Georgia's TBC Bank Group (51% acquired in 2019, the remaining 49% in 2023), while Click has merged with the Uzum holding. Both apps allow transfers by card number, QR payments, mobile top-ups, and payment of utility, tax, fine and other bills.

How the system works

A user links an Uzcard or Humo bank card to an app (Click or Payme). They then send P2P transfers by entering a card number, pay a merchant by QR code, top up a phone balance, settle utility and other bills, and withdraw cash at ATMs. The apps support transfers between Uzcard and Humo cards.

Uzcard–Humo interoperability

At first Uzcard and Humo cards ran on separate networks. Making them interoperable happened in stages: by December 2021 most POS terminals accepted both cards, and by mid-2023 the majority of ATMs served both systems. Today effectively any terminal or ATM accepts both card schemes.

Abroad and the international context

Plain Uzcard and Humo cards do not work abroad on their own — they are domestic schemes. The solution is co-badged cards: an Uzcard or Humo issued together with Mastercard, Visa or UnionPay; domestic transactions run on the national network and foreign ones on the international network.

By the numbers

According to a KPMG study prepared for the Central Bank, cashless card payments reached about 72% of nominal GDP in 2025 (up from about 25% in 2021). Card transaction volume rose from 297 trillion som in 2021 to 1,493 trillion som in 2025. According to the Central Bank, there were 68.27 million bank cards in circulation as of 1 January 2026.

Why it matters for the diaspora

Uzbeks abroad can have money they send received on a relative's Uzcard or Humo card; the apps also make it possible, to an extent, to pay family members' utility and other bills remotely in Uzbekistan. Exact fees, limits and services are published in the official information of the system operators and banks.