Armenian Bank Cards Can Be Used in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan
Armenian “ArCa” payment cards will soon allow payments in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan on the principle of reciprocity. The corresponding agreements were signed in Yerevan by Vardan Khachatryan, Executive Director of the “ArCa” payment system, Altimish Turatbekov, Head of the Interbank Processing Center of Kyrgyzstan, and Behzod Isakjonov, Director of the Retail Business Department of Uzbekistan’s “Hayot Bank.” Armenia is the first country in the South Caucasus with which these countries are implementing such cooperation.
In the first phase, “ArCa”–”Elkart” online payments will be launched. In the second phase, the cards will be serviced at ATMs in both countries, and in the third phase, reciprocal QR payments will become operational. This will allow residents of both Armenia and Kyrgyzstan to make payments in each other’s countries by scanning the QR codes placed at points of sale using a banking application.
The agreement with Uzbekistan’s “Hayot Bank” provides for the launch of reciprocal QR payments. Armenian cardholders will be able to pay at the QR points of both “Hayot Bank” and the “Uzkart” operator, which number nearly 100,000 in total. Payments will be made instantly.
Behzod Isakjonov, the representative of Uzbekistan, noted that “Hayot Bank” also implements similar projects with China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.