BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 18. TBC Uzbekistan is transforming digital banking in the country with Lola, Central Asia’s first AI banking assistant, and expanding financial inclusion for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a TBC spokesperson told Trend.
"Our proprietary Uzbek- and Russian-language LLMs allow Lola to handle routine customer interactions with high accuracy, guiding users through our financial products and everyday requests. When a human touch is needed, the escalation process to our support team is completely seamless. With Lola's broader capabilities, we are taking this to the next level: by the end of 2026, Lola is projected to independently resolve up to 30% of all inquiries," the spokesperson said.
The bank revealed plans for expansion of Lola’s capabilities further.
"In the near term, it will be able to provide customers with information on their active loans, including outstanding balances, upcoming payments, and repayment schedules. In time, Lola will evolve into a fully-fledged financial assistant, capable of supporting customers with income and expense analysis, budget management, and payments. As part of this evolution, we plan to launch a voice interaction feature, making digital banking more accessible, intuitive, and perfectly tailored to our users' fast-paced lives," the spokesperson added.
TBC Uzbekistan is also advancing financial inclusion for SMEs through its TBC Nasiya installment business.
"Across TBC Uzbekistan, we are building a more inclusive financial ecosystem for small and medium-sized businesses by combining lending, payments, and business management tools. As of Q1 2026, MSME lending (including self-employed customers) has reached 18% of the total loan portfolio, with over 185,000 loans issued," the spokesperson said.
According to the bank, TBC Nasiya helps merchants improve cash flow and provides flexible payment solutions for end customers. "In Q1 2026, TBC BNPL service reached 190,000 active users," the spokesperson noted.
Looking ahead, the bank aims to scale MSME penetration and ecosystem synergies. The spokesperson highlighted that TBC Uzbekistan’s monthly active user base has reached 5.8 million, with 67,000 business clients, 21,000 of them active.
