Uzbekistan Expects Apple Pay Within Days After Google Pay Launch

Apple Pay preparations enter their final stage

Uzbekistan expects Apple Pay to launch in the coming days after Google announced the arrival of Google Pay on October 19 in Samarkand. The Tourism Committee says the Central Bank, commercial banks and national payment systems Humo and Uzcard are carrying out the technical integration needed for Apple's service.

The committee's immediate aim is to make spending easier for foreign visitors. Tourists would be able to pay with smartphones rather than repeatedly reaching for cash or a physical bank card. Alongside the Apple and Google services, Uzbekistan has opened a connection to Alipay+ and is discussing a link with India's UPI payment system.

The committee has not given an exact Apple Pay launch date. Participating Uzbek banks, eligibility for local residents and support for cards issued through Humo and Uzcard also await clarification. For Google Pay, the Ministry of Digital Technologies has not specified which domestic banks support the service or when payments by tapping a phone will be available to all eligible local customers.

Google's announcement came in Samarkand

Marcin Krasuski, Google Cloud's director of government affairs and public policy for Central and Eastern Europe, announced the Google Pay launch during a digital technologies panel at C5+1 events involving the five Central Asian countries and the United States. Uzbekistan's Ministry of Digital Technologies published a video of his announcement on its Telegram channel.

The business programme took place alongside a visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. According to the ministry, it brought together representatives of more than 400 companies, including over 100 American businesses, 100 from other Central Asian countries and 200 Uzbek firms.

The programme covered six areas, from digital technologies and education and healthcare to mineral resources, energy and transport, agriculture and textiles, and finance and investment. Google's announcement put a consumer payment service into a broader discussion about business and technology cooperation.

What paying with Apple Pay involves

Apple Pay lets someone use an iPhone or Apple Watch to pay with a supported bank card. The customer adds that card to Apple's Wallet application, confirms the payment on the device and holds it near a compatible contactless terminal.

The purchase is charged to the linked card. Apple Pay supplies another way to use that card rather than opening a separate bank account or issuing a new card. For a visitor whose bank already supports the service, the practical benefit is being able to use a familiar payment method while travelling.

Android users cannot use Apple Pay directly. Google's payment services serve a different device ecosystem: Google Pay supports purchases online and inside applications, while Google Wallet supports payments at contactless terminals on compatible Android devices where that function is available.

For Uzbek residents, bank participation will determine much of the convenience. Someone who already pays through bank applications, QR codes or a contactless card would gain another option, provided their bank and card are supported.

Local cards are central to the integration

Jamshid Usmanov, head of the Central Bank's department responsible for developing payment systems, said on July 29 that commercial banks, Humo and Uzcard had begun negotiations with Apple and Google after changes to personal data legislation. Technical work was proceeding alongside those discussions.

Usmanov described preparations intended to let customers add Visa and Mastercard cards issued by Uzbek banks, as well as cards from national payment systems, to Apple and Google wallets. Banks were working on card tokenisation as part of that process.

Tokenisation replaces a card number with a digital substitute used for payments. In simple terms, the phone can present a payment credential linked to the card without using the original card number in the same way as a physical card. Banks, payment networks and wallet providers must connect their systems to support it.

Usmanov, discussing the expected pace of the work in July, said:

I think we will hear positive news from commercial banks in the coming months. It is also possible that one of the payment system operators will launch the service around the same time,

How the rollout reached this point

Uzbekistan's preparations stretch back to a government instruction in October 2024. The Tourism Committee, Central Bank and Ministry of Digital Technologies were asked to negotiate connections with Alipay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and UniPay, and to propose changes to domestic legal requirements.

The subsequent milestones show how legislation, banking technology and merchant acceptance developed on different schedules:

• October 2024: The government instructed agencies to begin negotiations with international payment services.
• November 2025: Personal data rules were discussed during President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's meeting with US business leaders.
• Early 2026: Parliament approved changes to the personal data law.
• March 26: The president signed amendments allowing most categories of personal data to be processed abroad under specified conditions.
• May: Uzbekistan Airways began accepting existing Apple Pay and Google Pay wallets on its website and application.
• July 8: The Central Bank confirmed that technical preparations were under way.
• July 29: Usmanov described negotiations and integration work involving banks, Humo and Uzcard.
• August: An Alipay+ gateway began operating on Humo infrastructure.
• October 19: Google announced the Google Pay launch in Samarkand.

Uzbekistan Airways provided an early example of accepting wallets that customers already held. Its May introduction allowed those customers to buy tickets, while the wider banking work focused on enabling cards issued in Uzbekistan to be added to the services.

Why personal data rules mattered

A requirement introduced through a 2021 law made companies handling Uzbek citizens' personal data online store it on servers within Uzbekistan. International payment platforms use infrastructure across countries, making that requirement a major obstacle to entering the market.

Ramazon Ashropov, deputy interior minister and head of the Investigation Department, told lawmakers that restrictions on transferring information such as names, card details and addresses to servers abroad were limiting cooperation with international payment companies.

The March 26 amendments narrowed the categories that must remain stored inside Uzbekistan. Biometric data, genetic data and information about telecommunications subscribers remain subject to domestic storage requirements. Other personal data can be processed abroad when the required conditions are met.

The legislative proposal also envisaged government approval of a list of countries providing adequate protection for personal data. Security requirements, international standards and requirements set by authorised bodies formed part of the proposed framework for processing information overseas.

Legal changes were followed by further preparation

Shuhrat Qurbonov, author of the Kurbanoff.net Telegram channel, said in July that supporting regulations were still needed. He identified a list of countries offering adequate data protection, standard contractual requirements and recognised international standards for data storage as unfinished work at that time.

Qurbonov also assessed the physical infrastructure for contactless payments as ready, pointing to terminals supporting near field communication, or NFC, in shops, pharmacies, cafes and petrol stations. NFC is the short range wireless technology that lets a phone exchange payment information with a nearby terminal.

Banking and technology executives had raised related concerns before the amendments. TBC Uzbekistan chief executive Nika Kurdiani identified the personal data law as an obstacle to Apple Pay and Google Pay. BILLZ chief executive Rustam Hamdamov pointed to high domestic data storage costs and a shortage of modern data centres.

MyTaxi and Express24 founder Akmal Paiziev also linked limited cloud services and infrastructure problems to startups moving to neighbouring countries and foreign companies passing over Uzbekistan. Their concerns placed payment access within a wider debate about how businesses could use technology services hosted abroad.

Alipay+ already connects visitors to Uzbek QR payments

Humo's Alipay+ gateway began operating in August, giving users of Alipay and connected digital wallets a way to pay through Uzbekistan's UzQR codes. The Tourism Committee has highlighted the connection as particularly useful for visitors from China.

A payment gateway connects different payment systems so that a purchase can move from a customer's application to the merchant's payment network. Here, the visitor uses a connected wallet to scan a local QR code rather than switching to an unfamiliar payment application.

The committee says China and India are receiving particular attention as tourism markets with growing visitor flows. The Alipay+ connection offers a working example of its approach: connect payment tools tourists already use to systems accepted by Uzbek merchants.

Phone payments at contactless terminals and payments made by scanning QR codes involve different actions at the checkout. Uzbekistan is pursuing both, giving visitors several possible routes to pay depending on their device, wallet and the merchant's equipment.

India's UPI connection remains under discussion

Humo and India's NPCI International discussed practical integration questions at Global Fintech Fest 2026 in Mumbai. Their proposed project would connect Uzbekistan's UzQR system with India's Unified Payments Interface, commonly called UPI.

The intended result is straightforward: an Indian visitor could scan a merchant's QR code in Uzbekistan and pay through an application they already use at home. The talks concern payments across national borders, connecting the customer's familiar system with the merchant's local network.

The Tourism Committee presents these projects as ways to reduce visitors' reliance on cash and physical international bank cards. For merchants, successful connections would mean being able to accept more of the payment methods customers bring with them.

The projects are at different stages. Alipay+ is operating through Humo infrastructure, Google has announced its launch, Apple Pay is undergoing technical integration ahead of its expected arrival, and the UPI connection is being discussed.

Key Points

• Google announced its Uzbekistan launch on October 19 at C5+1 events in Samarkand.
• The Tourism Committee expects Apple Pay in the coming days, with technical work involving the Central Bank, commercial banks, Humo and Uzcard.
• Local bank participation and support for domestic cards still need clarification.
• March 26 legal amendments allowed most personal data to be processed abroad under specified conditions.
• Alipay+ has operated through Humo infrastructure since August, enabling payments through UzQR codes.
• A proposed UzQR connection with India's UPI would let Indian visitors pay through familiar applications.