TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, November 15. Russian QIWI Wallet payment service has decided to exit Uzbekistan, Trend reports.
As per data provided by the company, the application will stop working for Uzbeks starting from December 18.
Furthermore, QIWI notes that the service will start charging a commission of 75,000 soums ($6.19) daily for storing money on the balance sheet from November 16, since the company cannot hold customers' money.
The payment service notes that this decision was made due to restrictions on international transfers and payments introduced by the Central Bank of Uzbekistan for payment services in September of 2023.
Meanwhile, Central Bank of Uzbekistan has ordered local payment services to suspend cross-border transactions from September 5, 2023.
The decision of the Central Bank to suspend cross-border operations is intended to protect the local fin-tech sector from risks of the international financial system. The bank said that obtaining of special licenses by Uzbek fin-tech companies in order to provide services in foreign markets is necessary.