Uzbekistan Launches Apple Pay and Google Pay After Data Law Change and Government Engagement
Uzbekistan Launches Apple Pay and Google Pay After Data Law Change and Government Engagement #
Uzbekistan activated Apple Pay and Google Pay on 27 October, following regulatory changes and government engagement with both companies.
Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of Uzbekistan’s Presidential Administration, confirmed the launch on Telegram. “I am happy to share good news: today Apple Pay and Google Pay have finally started working in Uzbekistan,” she wrote, calling the development long-awaited. Both platforms let users load eligible bank cards into Apple Wallet or Google Wallet and pay contactlessly at supported terminals using compatible phones and smartwatches.
Google Pay’s arrival was previewed on 19 October, when a Google Cloud representative announced the service at a digital technology event in Samarkand held under the C5+1 framework, a diplomatic forum connecting Central Asian nations with the United States. Apple Pay followed eight days later.
At launch, Apple Pay supports Visa and Mastercard cards from eight Uzbek banks: Uzum Bank, Kapitalbank, TBC Bank, the National Bank of Uzbekistan, Orient Finans Bank, Hamkorbank, Ipak Yuli Bank, and Octobank. Google Pay supports nine institutions, adding AVO Bank and Aloqabank to a largely overlapping list. Both platforms are expected to add more banks over time.
The Central Bank of Uzbekistan told Euronews that work is under way to extend Apple Pay and Google Pay support to cards issued through the domestic networks Uzcard and HUMO, though it did not give a timeline. That extension would widen access beyond customers who currently hold internationally branded cards.
The path to launch was cleared earlier this year when Uzbekistan amended its personal data law to remove the blanket requirement to store all personal data on domestic servers, a rule that had deterred global payment platforms from entering the market. Biometric and genetic data remain subject to stricter rules.
In September, Mirziyoyeva met Google Vice President Karan Bhatia to discuss technical and regulatory conditions for international payment services. The launches are part of Uzbekistan’s National Fintech Strategy for 2026-2030, which targets investment attraction, open banking, and deeper cross-border payment connectivity. Uzbekistan joins Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, both of which introduced Apple Pay earlier this year. Kazakhstan has had Apple Pay since 2018 and Google Pay since 2021.
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