Uzbekistan's Central Bank Mandates Purpose of Payment for Card Transfers

The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has issued a binding requirement for commercial banks and payment service providers. They must now implement a function for specifying the purpose of payments in money transfers between individuals' bank cards.

This new regulation is formalized in an official letter sent to financial institutions. It is part of the execution of a presidential decree aimed at promoting cashless payments and reducing the share of the shadow economy.

According to the regulator's clarifications, all banking and payment mobile applications must be updated. The transfer interface will include a mandatory "payment purpose" field, which users must complete to finalize a card-to-card transaction. Selection will not be free-form; instead, users must choose from a pre-approved list of categories established by the Central Bank.

The approved list contains 16 standard payment purposes covering major areas of citizens' daily financial operations. These include payment for goods and services, debt repayment, charitable donations, utility bill payments, rental payments, education expenses, and medical services. Separate categories are designated for transfers to relatives, gifts, and investment operations. This structured classification is intended to help automated systems more accurately categorize monetary flows.

The Central Bank emphasized that financial institutions are responsible not only for implementing the necessary technical changes but also for submitting a progress report to its Payment Systems Department by March 1 of this year.

The regulator warned that failure to provide information or untimely execution of its instructions will be considered a violation of legal requirements and will lead to statutory sanctions. The innovation is expected to increase the transparency of retail payments and serve as an additional tool in combating the shadow economy.