TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, August 24. Uzbekistan’s HUMO payment system aims to expand its operations from the regional level to the international market by developing cooperation with payment systems in other countries, HUMO Chairman Aleksey Maslov said, Trend’s special correspondent reports from Tashkent.
He made the remark while speaking at the Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum.
According to Maslov, HUMO’s initial goal was not to create another local payment player, but to build a system capable of expanding beyond the domestic market. “From the very beginning, our goal was to create a player which can be at least regional from the beginning, but then we decided to move into international operation,” Maslov said.
He noted that HUMO operates its own local card network and also issues co-branded cards with international payment systems, including Visa. “The co-branded card can be used as a local [card] inside the country and can be used as Visa outside the country. It's a typical thing for a local payment system,” he said.
At the same time, HUMO is developing direct cooperation with other national payment systems in the region. “For example, we have cooperation with some other local payment systems, like Elcard in Kyrgyzstan. Elcard can be accepted in our country. Our cards can be accepted in Kyrgyzstan. We do a similar thing with Kazakhstan. We do similar things with some other countries,” Maslov said.
He added that HUMO will continue expanding its cooperation geographically, with the aim of strengthening its position as a regional, subregional and eventually international payment player.
