The evolution of Central Asia’s payments ecosystem is inevitable—but the pace and approach remain key questions.
This article explores the region’s fintech landscape, drawing parallels to the rapid growth seen in China, India, and Brazil, while addressing the unique challenge of regional fragmentation.
The Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) region is experiencing a transformative shift in its payments and financial landscape. Once considered a fragmented and cash-dominated market, the region is now on the path toward digital-first payments, mirroring the fintech explosions in China (2015-2018), India (UPI adoption), and Brazil (post-Pix implementation). With over 90 million digital-first consumers, rapid internet penetration, and government-backed financial modernisation efforts, the stage is set for an unprecedented acceleration in digital finance.
Source: 8B
The growth trajectory of CCA fintech is strikingly similar to other high-growth regions. Just as India's UPI system processed over USD 2 trillion in 2023, and Brazil’s Pix handled USD 260 billion in real-time payments, Central Asia is moving toward a digital payments economy that will surpass USD 250 billion by 2026. However, unlike India or Brazil, the CCA region remains highly fragmented, with independent payment networks, a lack of regional interoperability, and a heavy reliance on cash transactions.
For fintechs, PSPs, and investors, the opportunity to shape this market remains significant. Much like the Netherlands before iDeal, Brazil before Pix, or China before Alipay’s dominance, the financial landscape of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan is at a tipping point. The challenge now is ensuring interoperability, cost efficiency, and real-time cross-border functionality.
The rapid expansion of real-time payments (RTPs) across Central Asia signals a major shift in the region’s financial landscape. However, despite the emergence of Kazakhstan’s Instant Payment System, Kyrgyzstan’s ELQR, and Georgia’s National Bank RTP system, these networks remain domestically siloed rather than part of a seamless, interoperable regional payment infrastructure like SEPA Instant in Europe or UPI in India. Uzbekistan, despite its advanced card networks (HUMO and UZCARD), has yet to introduce a dedicated RTP system.
Global trends indicate that fragmented Real-Time Payment (RTP) ecosystems are unsustainable in the long term. Furthermore, Phase 2 typically involves operability with other regions. The success of Pix in Brazil and UPI in India has demonstrated how a government-backed, unified RTP network can drive financial inclusion, accelerate digital adoption, and enhance commercial efficiency.
For fintechs and PSPs, the greatest opportunity lies in connecting these isolated RTP systems into a single, integrated cross-border payment network. While Europe took nearly a decade to standardise instant payments across SEPA, Central Asia has the potential to leapfrog this process by adopting fintech-driven, API-powered interoperability solutions now.
The real question is who will take the lead—governments, regulators, or fintech innovators?
The rapid adoption of digital wallets and QR-based payments is reshaping the financial landscapes of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Georgia, leading to a decline in the market share of traditional card networks like Visa and Mastercard. This trend mirrors similar shifts observed in countries such as Turkey, Vietnam, and India.
In Uzbekistan, the national card networks HUMO* and Uzcard** have become the primary channels for domestic transactions, collectively processing over 90% of internal payments. This dominance underscores the necessity for Payment Service Providers (PSPs) to integrate directly with these systems, bypassing traditional international card networks.
Kazakhstan and Georgia: the rise of alternative payment platforms
Similarly, platforms like Kaspi Pay in Kazakhstan and TBC Pay in Georgia are establishing themselves as dominant alternative payment methods, further diminishing the reliance on global card networks.
Turkey: the TROY card system, introduced in 2016, has rapidly expanded, reaching 35 million users by mid-2024 and capturing 12% of the card payment market***. This growth reflects a significant shift towards domestic payment solutions.
Vietnam: the NAPAS (National Payment Services) card network has significantly reduced the market share of international card providers by offering a domestic alternative that is widely accepted and cost-effective****.
India: the introduction of RuPay, an indigenous card payment system, has rapidly gained traction, capturing a substantial portion of the market and reducing dependence on Visa and Mastercard*****.
The experiences from these markets highlight a critical lesson: PSPs that do not adapt to Local Payment Methods (LPMs) risk losing relevance. With LPMs projected to account for over 50% of digital transactions in the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) region by 2027, the future of digital commerce hinges on fintechs' ability to seamlessly integrate with these national networks.
The global shift towards localised payment systems necessitates that PSPs and fintech companies proactively adapt to these evolving landscapes. Embracing and integrating with national payment infrastructures is no longer optional but essential for maintaining competitiveness and ensuring broad consumer reach in these rapidly digitising economies.
Despite growing digital adoption, remittances still play a crucial role in regional economies. In Kyrgyzstan, remittances account for 40% of GDP, while Uzbekistan has experienced a 45% year-on-year increase in remittance inflows. However, most of these transactions remain cash-based, indicating a major gap in digital cross-border payment solutions.
As digital transformation reshapes financial services, the demand for seamless, real-time, and low-cost international payments is surging. The inefficiencies in cross-border payments present a USD 50 billion opportunity for fintechs and PSPs that can provide instant, FX-optimised, and cost-effective remittance and payment solutions. The future of cross-border transactions in CCA will be defined by those who can bridge the gap between traditional banking and a fully digital, frictionless payments ecosystem. The inefficiencies in cross-border payments represent a USD 50 bln opportunity for fintechs and PSPs that can provide low-cost, real-time, FX-optimised solutions.
Kazakhstan is setting the pace in Open Banking, with the National Bank rolling out API-based regulations and fintech giants like Kaspi.kz already embedding Open Banking into their ecosystems. The country’s Instant Payment System (IPS) is gearing up to support real-time API transactions, opening doors for B2B commerce, lending, and even cross-border trade.
Meanwhile, Georgia is carving out its space as a regional fintech hub, taking cues from Europe’s Open Banking model. TBC Bank and Bank of Georgia are leading the charge, opening up their APIs to fintechs, and paving the way for new digital payment solutions, alternative lending models, and embedded finance products.
If things keep moving in this direction, Kazakhstan and Georgia’s Open Banking rollout will look a lot like Europe’s PSD2 evolution but fintech-led instead of bank-driven. By 2027, over 50% of financial transactions could be API-powered, setting the stage for massive growth in fintech.
Embedded finance, BNPL, and instant lending will scale fast as Open Banking takes hold.
Real-time payments and Open Banking APIs will come together, finally making cross-border transactions seamless.
B2B payments, merchant solutions, and identity verification will become fully API-driven.
For fintechs, PSPs, and investors, this is a once-in-a-generation window to shape the Open Banking space before big banks tighten their grip. The region is primed for API-powered finance, and whoever gets in now will be the one defining how payments, lending, and digital commerce evolve in the next decade.
The Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) region is undergoing a financial transformation, positioning itself alongside some of the most dynamic fintech markets globally. Just as China’s payments ecosystem shifted from cash to mobile-first between 2015 and 2018, or how Brazil’s Pix system is surpassing credit cards in transactions******, Central Asia is now at a similar crossroads. The region’s digital economy is expanding rapidly, yet it remains fragmented, with local payment networks, limited interoperability, and inefficiencies in cross-border transactions.
The scale of this transformation is immense. With over 90 million digital-first consumers and a projected USD 250 billion in digital payments by 2026, the market presents unparalleled opportunities for fintechs, PSPs, and investors. However, the challenge lies in bridging domestic digital adoption with seamless regional integration—a task that Europe accomplished through SEPA Instant and currently innovated with Open Banking, and India with UPI.
Central Asia’s real-time payments (RTP) expansion is promising yet disconnected. Countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan have launched their own domestic RTP networks, but these systems lack cross-border interoperability—a critical issue that will determine the region’s ability to support seamless financial transactions. The experience of Europe’s fragmented banking system before SEPA serves as a lesson: without standardised real-time cross-border payments, Central Asia’s fintech ecosystem will remain limited to its full potential.
Similarly, the dominance of local payment methods (LPMs) and national schemes such as HUMO, Uzcard, and ELQR in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan mirrors the trend seen in Brazil’s Pix or Turkey’s TROY, where domestic financial infrastructures have outpaced traditional card networks like Visa and Mastercard. The shift toward QR-based and API-driven payments is inevitable, and by 2027, LPMs are expected to account for more than 50% of all digital transactions in the region.
However, one of the largest untapped opportunities remains in cross-border payments and remittances, a market projected to surpass USD 50 billion by 2027. Despite rapid fintech adoption in domestic markets, cross-border transactions remain expensive and inefficient, relying on legacy banking corridors like SWIFT and Western Union. As seen in China’s Alipay HK cross-border remittance model, the introduction of fintech-led, real-time FX-optimised transactions could disrupt legacy corridors and create a more cost-efficient digital ecosystem for regional trade and migration-related remittances.
The move toward Open Banking and Embedded Finance in Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Uzbekistan offers another pivotal moment in regional financial modernization. Following in the footsteps of Europe’s PSD2 directive, these countries are opening financial APIs, allowing fintechs to integrate seamlessly with banks and PSPs, reducing the need for intermediary institutions. By 2027, over 50% of transactions in these countries could be API-driven, making early fintech adoption critical to establishing leadership in the next generation of financial services.
* Central Bank of Uzbekistan. (2020). National Interbank Processing Centre – HUMO payment system. Retrieved from https://cbu.uz/en/
** UzDaily.com. (2025, January 31). UZCARD and HUMO system to integrate their POS-terminal systems. Retrieved from https://www.uzdaily.uz/en/
*** Daily Sabah (2024, August 21). Türkiye's Troy card system expands rapidly, usage soars to 35M. Retrieved from https://www.dailysabah.com/
**** Statista (2025, January 7). Biggest international and domestic payment card schemes in Vietnam 2016-2022. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/
***** TechCrunch (2025, January 9). India’s digital payments strategy is cutting out Visa and Mastercard. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/
****** Reuters (2024, September 10). Brazil's Pix to overtake credit cards in e-commerce as soon as 2025. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/
About 8B
8B operates in hard-to-reach markets, with strong expertise in the Caucasus and Central Asia. We provide localised payment access, regulatory support, and the ability to work with local currencies. With acquiring licenses in Central Asia, Europe, and North America, we ensure compliance and smooth transactions. Our solutions help global PSPs and businesses navigate fragmented financial systems efficiently. 8B is a trusted partner for PSPs expanding into emerging markets.
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