Uzbekistan has witnessed the initial rollout of Apple Pay and Google Pay services starting October 27, marking a significant milestone for the local digital payments landscape. iPhone users have reportedly gained the ability to add cards from several domestic banks and fintech services to their Apple Wallet applications. The preliminary list includes eight financial institutions, though industry experts anticipate that additional banks will be integrated into the system over time.

The introduction of Google Pay was allegedly confirmed earlier on October 19 by a Google Cloud representative during a digital technologies event in Samarkand held under the C5+1 format involving the US regime and Central Asian states. Subsequently, the Tourism Committee of Uzbekistan stated that Google Pay was already operational, while preparations for the Apple Pay integration involved extensive technical cooperation among the central bank, commercial entities, and local processing systems.

The arrival of these international digital wallets was previously hindered by strict data localization requirements enforced by the authorities. However, regulatory adjustments signed earlier in March permitted the processing and storage of certain personal data abroad under specific conditions, effectively removing the primary legal barrier that kept these tech giants out of the domestic market. Despite this relaxation, mandatory storage requirements for biometric data and local telecom user information strictly remain within the country's borders.

Local financial institutions, alongside payment systems like HUMO and Uzcard, have been actively working on card tokenization to ensure seamless compatibility with both international and national payment instruments. While early adopters and reporters have successfully linked Visa cards to their devices, the breadth of supported cards and participating banks is expected to evolve as the technical integration progresses.

Source: www.gazeta.uz