TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, August 24. Uzbekistan and
Azerbaijan may expand payment connectivity between financial
systems, allowing tourists from both countries to use their usual
payment methods while traveling, the Head of Business Development
for EMEA and the Caucasus and a representative of HUMO told
Trend on the
sidelines of the Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum in
Tashkent.


According to him, there is active rapprochement between the two
countries at the intergovernmental level, including against the
backdrop of growing tourist flows. “A large number of tourists from
Uzbekistan are visiting Azerbaijan today, and we also expect guests
from Azerbaijan,” Ergashev said.


The HUMO representative noted that the development of payment
infrastructure could provide more convenient payment options for
citizens of both countries. “They will be able to make payments
through our network using their own apps, which we are ready to
integrate between the payment systems of Uzbekistan and
Azerbaijan,” he said.


Speaking about the development of Uzbekistan’s payment market,
Ergashev noted that the country is actively transitioning to
cashless payments, while cash payments are gradually taking a back
seat. “Uzbekistan is precisely the testing ground in Central Asia
where cash payments are fading into the background as much as
possible. For the most part, everything here is done cashless,” he
noted.







According to him, as of July 1, businesses in the country are
required to have a single QR code for accepting payments, which
also contributes to the development of cashless infrastructure.


He added that tokenized payment solutions are also being
developed in Uzbekistan, allowing transactions to be made using
various devices, including wearable gadgets. “We already have
tokenized solutions where people pay not just with a card, but, for
example, with a ring or some other gadget,” Ergashev said.


The representative of HUMO also reported on work being done on a
tokenization project to enable the future launch of services such
as Apple Pay and Google Pay, noting that the development of such
solutions could further contribute to an increase in cashless
payments.