Uzbekistan’s fintech companies disclose earnings amid regulatory changes

The changes in reporting follow a legal requirement introduced on July 1, 2024, mandating that all payment organizations in Uzbekistan operate as joint-stock companies (JSCs) and publish their financial statements. 

The majority of companies faced financial difficulties, with 13 reporting losses.

Among the companies that achieved the highest earnings, Uzum Nasiya led with 238.1 billion Uzbek UZS in profit, followed by Paynet at 208.4 billion UZS, Payme with 186.9 billion UZS, and Click at 179.2 billion UZS. Other notable earners included MyUzcard (78.1 billion UZS), IT Unisoft Group (56 billion UZS), and Alif Mobi (42.4 billion UZS).

Uzcard, a payment system operator, recorded 660.4 billion UZS in earnings over the nine months of 2024, while Humo, another system operator, reported 119.2 billion UZS.

A smaller group of companies achieved profits below 10 billion UZS, with ATTO reporting 9 billion UZS, followed by Multicard Payment (7.9 billion UZS), Devhub (1.49 billion UZS), Humans Pay (1.44 billion UZS), and Pay-Way (1.3 billion UZS).

However, the financial reporting also revealed significant losses among 13 fintech companies. Notable losses included Sello (23.8 billion UZS), OSON (11.9 billion UZS), and A-Pay (5.1 billion UZS), among others.

Out of the 43 registered payment organizations, only 25 had publicly available financial data by the report’s publication. The absence of reports from some companies, including Atmos, Tezpay, Nationalpay, Marta, and others, may indicate delays in transitioning to the JSC structure or meeting the Central Bank’s licensing standards.

The regulatory authority has enforced the new organizational requirements and revoked licenses for some firms that failed to comply. This year alone, seven to eight companies, including Payment Aggregation Systems and Qulay Pul, had their licenses revoked, while in October, the Central Bank suspended Humans Pay’s Maroqand operations for six months over transactions linked to gambling activities. Central Bank Chairman Mamarizo Nurmuratov stated that the service had been facilitating funds transfers to betting operators.