Update: National System Uzbekistan

Vienna/Tashkent (11.1.2010) - What started as a small pilot project of the National Bank of Uzbekistan in 1995 with 5000 cards evolved to a full-fledged National Interbank Payment System under the brand name UZKART.

As of January 1, 2010, 4,800.000 UEPS smart cards, 35.000 POS terminals and 200 ATMs, and 120 Infokiosks are active in the system. The transaction turnover in 2009 was USD 800 million, compared to USD 450 million in 2008, which is an increase of 78%.  In addition, Net1 has received additional orders for 1,000,000 UEPS smart cards and 25,000 POS devices for 2010. The National Payment System is based on the BGS/Net1 technology platform supported by the 25 largest banks of Uzbekistan. In 1996, the National Bank of Uzbekistan, the State Joint-Stock Commercial Bank “Asaka”, Agrobank, and the People Bank laid the foundation of the present system by founding the United Uzbekistan Processing Center. The system is managed by the UZKART Coordination Committee under the guidance of the Association of Uzbekistan Banks; this committee consists of representatives of all participating banks.