Armenian bank cards will soon be accepted in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, based on the principle of reciprocity.
The agreements were signed in Yerevan by Vardan Khachatryan, Executive Director of Armenia’s national ArCa payment system, along with Altimish Turatbekov, head of Kyrgyzstan’s Interbank Processing Center JSC, and Behzod Isakjonov, Director of Retail Business at Uzbekistan’s Hayot Bank, according to Sputnik Armenia.
Turatbekov said the integration will unfold in stages. In the initial phase, online transactions will be enabled between Kyrgyzstan’s Elkart and Armenia’s ArCa cards. The second phase will see the cards accepted at ATMs in both countries, and in the third phase, QR code-based payments will be implemented.
This system will allow Kyrgyz citizens to pay at Armenian retail points using QR codes, and vice versa. Kyrgyzstan has long used a unified QR code standard, which was also introduced in Armenia this fall.
QR payments are made through banking apps by scanning a code displayed at the point of sale. This allows users to pay either from a card or directly from their bank account.
“Together with ArCa's management, we are drafting a detailed implementation timeline. The process won't take long, as we already have integration experience with systems in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, and are currently working on similar projects with China and PayPal. Cooperation with Armenia is especially important, as we share the same economic space where financial barriers should not exist,” Turatbekov added.
The agreement with Uzbekistan’s Hayot Bank covers mutual QR payment implementation. Armenian and Uzbek citizens visiting each other’s countries will be able to pay in local shops and cafés using their banking apps to scan QR codes. The same option will be available for Hayot Bank cardholders in Armenia.
Isakjonov highlighted the instant nature of QR payments as a key advantage.
While Uzbekistan does not yet have a unified QR payment system, both banks and the national Uzcard operator offer individual solutions. Armenian cardholders will be able to pay using QR codes from both Hayot Bank and Uzcard, which cover nearly 100,000 retail locations in Uzbekistan.
He noted that Armenia is the first South Caucasus country with which Hayot Bank has signed such an agreement. The bank is also running similar programs with China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
