TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, November 14. Uzbekistan’s Central Bank has reactivated the license of the Uzbek BRIO GROUP (OSON) payment system (functions as an e-wallet), Trend reports.
The license was originally obtained in 2020. Central Bank of Uzbekistan excluded OSON from the register of official Uzbek payment organizations on October 17, 2023. Now, the company has obtained the license back.
The Central Bank said the license was revoked in accordance with the Law On Currency Regulation, as the payment organization opened an account with a foreign bank and conducted transactions through this bank account contrary to the requirements.
OSON offers a wide range of services, including money transfers from UZCARD and HUMO cards, replenishment of international electronic wallets, paying utility bills, as well as paying for gaming services and entertainment platform services.
The OSON e-wallet can also be used to buy various subscriptions and Gift-cards, shop at online stores.
As per latest available data by the Uzbek Central Bank, 47 licensed payment organizations currently operate in Uzbekistan. The bank noted rapid increase in demand for payment services from non-banking services over the past year, which might be facilitated by favorable conditions for market participants. In 2022, payment organizations conducted transactions worth 116 trillion soums ($9.5 billion), which 2.1 times more compared to 2021 calculations.
Meanwhile, earlier in 2023 the Central Bank ordered local payment services to suspend cross-border transactions, as a result, several of them have already complied.
Volume of cross-border remittances from Uzbekistan amounted to $2.1 billion as of 2022. In 2022, Uzbekistan received remittances worth record-breaking $16.9 billion, which is 2.1 times more than in 2021.
