Since September 12, at least two banks in Uzbekistan have tightened the conditions for issuing bank cards to non-residents.
According to the Kapitalbank press service, in order to ensure transparency of cash flows and operations in the bank, the administration strengthens compliance control.
From September 12, non-resident individuals of the Republic of Uzbekistan will be able to open bank accounts only in the following cases:
- when staying on the territory of Uzbekistan continuously for more than 15 (fifteen) calendar days before the day of applying to the bank;
- when studying in educational institutions of the republic and having documents confirming the status of the student;
- with official employment in Uzbekistan.
For citizens of Uzbekistan, the conditions for opening bank accounts and deposits remain unchanged.
Ipak Yuli Bank was informed that from September 12, the opening of accounts for non-residents (including plastic cards and identification in a mobile application) will be carried out exclusively in the operational management at the bank’s head office.
All other branches of the bank will temporarily not accept applications for opening accounts for non-residents. The above changes do not apply to servicing accounts of non-residents opened before September 12 of the current year.
It should be recalled that after the start of the so-called “special operation” in Ukraine, many Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia. Russian banks were subject to restrictions.
Russians cannot pay with cards outside the country and use foreign payment services. Under these conditions, many Russian citizens are looking for workarounds and go en masse to issue bank cards to the CIS countries, including Uzbekistan.
On March 6, Visa and Mastercard announced the suspension of all operations in Russia. Now Russian tour operators are offering special tours so that Russians can open these cards in Uzbekistan.
