Visa and Mastercard partnership or country expansion?

Georgian TBC bank, founded in 1992 in Tbilisi, has undoubtedly become an important player in the Uzbek banking market. It has even been called a "fintech revolutionary" of the country, because of its functional application and fast service. At the same time, TBC has primarily focused on the domestic market and collaborated with local payment systems, issuing cards for local use. This approach has recently changed, and bank has begun actively seeking support from international partners.

In October of this year, TBC UZ announced signing up with Visa, which will give the bank access to Visa Direct and card issuance under payment system's brand. Partnership will also significantly strengthen its market position. Uzbekistan poses a closed nature of payment infrastructure, and local payment systems HUMO and UZ Card fully cover the needs of local market. Nevertheless, banks have noticed the need for international cards among clients and are ready to offer the possibility of payments abroad.

Since HUMO and UZ Card are supported only in Uzbekistan, when traveling abroad or making purchases on a foreign website, users will not have a possibility to pay with these cards. In this case, they need to use an international brand like Visa or Mastercard. Literally a week after signing agreement with Visa, bank announced cooperation with Mastercard as well. Complete products set of payment system is integrated, based on which TBC UZ plans to make its own financial offers.

The leap in development in this direction is explained by desire to occupy a large niche: orders of goods from abroad today constitute a significant share of online transactions, and cutting Uzbekistanis off from this opportunity means losing revenue. By providing quality service and a quick response to trends, TBC UZ will be able to increase payment volumes and expand its market share.

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