Central Bank: UzQR to unify payment systems and reduce business commissions to 0.65%

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan has officially commented on the launch of the unified national system UzQR (Yagona QR-online).

This technological solution is designed to radically simplify the country's cashless settlement infrastructure. The key feature of the new system lies in its absolute universality: entrepreneurs no longer need to display multiple different codes at the checkout — a single universal QR code will be seamlessly recognized and read by any banking or mobile payment application. The implementation of the platform is being carried out in execution of Presidential Decree No. UP-246.

The regulator has approved a fixed unified commission for participants in the UzQR ecosystem at a level of 0.65 percent. The Central Bank specifically emphasized that this rate is withheld exclusively from trade and service enterprises (merchants) for processing transactions, while making payments remains completely free for the buyers themselves.

At the same time, commercial banks and fintech organizations retain the right to establish internal additional tariffs within their service packages, as a result of which users are advised to preliminarily study the terms of their specific payment application.

The new state decision offers the market more favorable financial conditions. Currently, a fragmented network of local services operates in the republic — including TezQR, Payme QR, Click QR, Uzum QR, Rahmat, and Paynet — where the average commission for retail outlets stands at around 1 percent or higher. In addition, most of the active products are rigidly limited to closed commercial ecosystems. UzQR completely eliminates these barriers, creating a shared seamless environment and stimulating healthy competition between financial institutions.

The Central Bank summarized that the unified UzQR system does not replace current payment instruments, but acts as an effective integration addition to the existing financial infrastructure.

Citizens and businesses retain the legislative right to independently choose the most comfortable method of settlement: payments can still be conducted via standard POS terminals, contactless modules, mobile banking, or direct internet links.