Tuesday, 28 July 2026 07:45 AM
Company Update
TASHKENT, UZ / ACCESS Newswire / July 28, 2026 / Uzbekistan has become one of Central Asia's fastest-developing financial markets. The country is digitalising its payment infrastructure, expanding e-commerce and encouraging businesses to adopt cashless payments. As a result, the Uzbek banking sector is attracting growing interest from banks, fintech companies, investors and entrepreneurs across the CIS and the European Union.
The development of acquiring services is particularly important because modern payment infrastructure is no longer limited to POS terminals. Businesses now require website and mobile-app integration, APIs, QR payments, SoftPOS, payment links, recurring billing, refunds, transaction analytics and reliable protection of cardholder data.
This review compares the acquiring solutions of Octobank, Ipak Yo‘li Bank, Orient Finans Bank and Aloqabank. Each represents a different model: e-commerce acquiring, omnichannel payments, advanced merchant acquiring and traditional corporate banking infrastructure. The analysis is based exclusively on information published by the banks on official websites and in tariffs, product documents and press releases available as of July 2026. Where a feature is described as "not publicly confirmed," this means only that detailed official information was not found.
Evaluation Criteria
The comparison covers online and merchant acquiring, API and CMS integration, SoftPOS, QR and NFC payments, payment links, refunds, payment holds, recurring payments, analytics, onboarding speed and security standards such as PCI DSS and 3-D Secure.
Octobank: A Technology Platform for E-Commerce
Octobank is one of the most technologically advanced participants in Uzbekistan's online acquiring market. Its model is designed primarily for online shops, mobile applications, booking platforms, subscription services and other digital businesses.
The bank supports online payments made with Visa, Mastercard, Uzcard and HUMO cards. Integration is carried out through an open API, supported by technical documentation and solutions for websites built on popular content management systems.
According to the bank's published terms, online acquiring can be connected within 24 hours after the required documents have been completed. The commission is 3.5% for Visa and Mastercard payments and 0.8% for Uzcard and HUMO. Funds are transferred within five banking days.
Octobank's key advantage is the depth of its e-commerce functionality. Publicly confirmed features include full and partial refunds, payment holds, recurring payments and tokenisation for repeat transactions. These capabilities are especially important for hotels, travel companies, marketplaces, booking services and subscription-based platforms.
Merchants receive access to a digital account where they can view customer payments, monitor transactions in real time and analyse payment statistics. Public sources do not clarify whether refunds can be managed directly through this interface, although the acquiring service itself supports them.
Payment security is based on PCI DSS, SSL, 3-D Secure and tokenisation. These mechanisms correspond to internationally recognised practices for protecting cardholder data and electronic transactions.
In 2024, Octobank received Visa's Best Acquirer in E-Commerce award. The bank has also announced the development of international payment solutions involving Alipay and WeChat Pay, although a full commercial launch had not been publicly confirmed at the time of this review.
Overall, Octobank is best suited to businesses that need advanced online acquiring, strong API integration and support for complex payment scenarios. Its offering is particularly relevant for e-commerce companies, mobile services, educational platforms, booking systems and subscription businesses.
Ipak Yo‘li Bank: Omnichannel Payment Infrastructure
Ipak Yo‘li Bank follows a broader omnichannel model. It combines POS terminals, online acquiring, QR payments, payment links and SoftPOS, allowing businesses to accept payments in physical shops, websites, mobile applications, Telegram bots and social media.
The bank's online acquiring service supports Visa, Mastercard, Uzcard and HUMO. Connection normally takes one to two business days. The commission for transactions in the national currency is up to 1% and is determined individually, while funds are credited within 24 hours. Connection is free of charge, although the merchant must maintain an account with the bank and complete the required integration process.
The MARTA SoftPOS solution allows an NFC-enabled Android smartphone to function as a payment terminal. This can reduce equipment costs for individual entrepreneurs, small retailers, couriers and businesses operating outside fixed points of sale.
The Unified QR service supports static and dynamic QR codes, Telegram payment notifications and API integration with cash registers and other business systems. Connection is free, the published commission is 0.65%, and funds are credited within 24 hours.
The Payment Link service allows merchants to accept remote card payments without building a full online shop. The generated link can be sent through messaging applications, email or social networks. Connection is free, commissions start from 1%, and settlements are completed within 24 hours.
According to the bank, its network includes more than 20,000 POS terminals, which are provided without rental fees.
Ipak Yo‘li Bank's main strength is the breadth of its payment channels. It is especially well suited to businesses that operate simultaneously online and offline and want to combine several payment methods within one banking relationship.
Orient Finans Bank: Merchant Acquiring and Contactless Payments
Orient Finans Bank has extensive experience in card acquiring and focuses mainly on businesses accepting payments at physical points of sale.
The bank provides POS terminals to legal entities and individual entrepreneurs. Its published conditions state that the terminals accept Uzcard and HUMO cards, are provided without rental fees and carry a commission of 0.2% on domestic card turnover.
Orient Finans Bank participates in Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay International and JCB and is certified under PCI DSS. However, the precise range of cards accepted by each terminal depends on the equipment, acquiring product and contractual conditions.
One of the bank's most significant projects is MARTA, a mobile acquiring solution based on Visa Tap to Phone. It allows an NFC-enabled Android smartphone to accept contactless card payments without a separate POS terminal. The product is targeted at small businesses, individual entrepreneurs and mobile service providers.
At launch, MARTA was described as Uzbekistan's first commercial solution of its kind and was certified under the Visa Ready programme.
The bank's acquiring business has received several Visa awards. It was named Largest Visa Acquirer in Uzbekistan for 2020, received the Best POS Acquirer award in 2024 and was recognised again by Visa in 2025.
Orient Finans Bank's strengths are its established POS infrastructure, international card-system partnerships, contactless payment technology and experience in merchant acquiring. Public information about its online acquiring, API capabilities and specialised e-commerce tools is more limited, so these areas cannot be assessed with the same level of detail.
Aloqabank: Traditional Corporate Acquiring
Aloqabank develops acquiring as part of its wider corporate banking services. Its focus is on POS terminals and payment services for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.
The bank provides Uzcard and HUMO terminals without rental fees. The published commission is 0.2% for cards issued by domestic banks and 3% for cards issued by foreign banks.
Aloqabank also supports payments through Tez QR and contactless NFC solutions on its POS terminals. The published commission for each of these channels is 1%.
Its acquiring services are offered alongside current accounts, corporate cards, online banking, the AloqaBusiness mobile application, SWIFT gpi, foreign-trade services and business lending. This allows companies to centralise payment, settlement and financing operations in one institution.
However, the bank provides relatively little public technical information about online acquiring, APIs, recurring payments, pre-authorisation, subscription billing, analytics and merchant dashboards. This does not necessarily mean that such functions are unavailable, but their capabilities could not be confirmed from official public sources.
Aloqabank is therefore most relevant for companies seeking traditional merchant acquiring as part of a broader corporate banking package.
Comparative Assessment
The four banks serve different business models rather than competing through one identical acquiring product.
Octobank stands out for advanced e-commerce capabilities, API integration, recurring payments, tokenisation, refunds and payment holds. It is the strongest option in this comparison for digital platforms and companies with complex online payment scenarios.
Ipak Yo‘li Bank offers the broadest omnichannel infrastructure, combining online acquiring, POS terminals, SoftPOS, QR payments and payment links. It is well suited to companies operating across both physical and digital channels.
Orient Finans Bank demonstrates strong expertise in merchant acquiring, international card infrastructure and contactless payments. Its experience, Visa awards and Tap to Phone solution make it particularly relevant for traditional retail and mobile merchants.
Aloqabank offers a more conventional corporate acquiring model. Its strengths are free terminal rental, transparent commissions, QR and NFC support and integration with a wider range of corporate banking services.
Conclusion
There is no single "best" acquiring bank in Uzbekistan because each institution focuses on different customers and payment scenarios.
Digital platforms and e-commerce companies are likely to prioritise APIs, recurring billing, tokenisation, refunds and online analytics. Traditional retailers will focus more on terminal reliability, fees and onboarding. Businesses operating across both online and offline channels increasingly require omnichannel systems that combine POS, mobile, QR and web payments.
Octobank is the most specialised in e-commerce technology, Ipak Yo‘li Bank provides the broadest range of payment channels, Orient Finans Bank has the strongest public profile in merchant and contactless acquiring, and Aloqabank integrates acquiring into a comprehensive corporate banking offering.
The continued development of these different models will play an important role in the growth of Uzbekistan's e-commerce sector and cashless economy.
Note: The review is based exclusively on publicly available official information. The absence of a feature from this comparison means that no detailed public description was identified and does not prove that the feature is unavailable.
Contact information
Company name: Octobank
Contact person: bank
Email address: [email protected]
Website: https://octobank.uz/
SOURCE: Octobank