FINNEXT Asia 2025: A Convergence Point for Global Trends

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The second FINNEXT Asia International Forum on Financial Innovation, organized by FINNEXT, was held in Tashkent, bringing together more than 700 top managers and executives from key financial institutions of Uzbekistan, Russia, the United States, Belarus, and several European and Asian countries.

A central focus of the event was international integration and attracting foreign investment. Among the guests were business representatives from Sweden, Türkiye, South Korea, Belgium, Poland and Azerbaijan, as well as investors from the UAE who came to explore opportunities in Uzbekistan’s fintech sector and gain a deeper understanding of the country’s broader investment potential.

The main topic of the plenary session was the strategic agenda of the global and regional fintech landscape. The session was moderated by Alexey Maslov, the forum’s executive producer and co-chair of the Payment Systems Committee of the Russian Banking Association and advisor to HUMO, and Otabek Nasirov, Chairman of the Central Asian Fintech Association, member of the Expert Councils at Cyber Park and AICA, and participant in the working groups of the Foreign Investors Council under the President of Uzbekistan.

Lubomir Olach, Director of International Development and Partner Relations at Qorus, spoke about the rethinking of banking as a “dream job,” driven by declining interest and growing disillusionment with banking services among younger generations. He highlighted successful solutions such as Intesa San Paolo’s digital sub-brand Isybank, created to attract young clients; Danske Bank’s partnership with a startup to detect bias factors in the resumes of inexperienced candidates; “green” investments in rental housing by Belgian BNP Paribas subsidiaries; and specialized banking programs for women and athletes.

Ulugbek Tavakkalov, Deputy Chairman of Kapitalbank responsible for retail, outlined key indicators of Uzbekistan’s retail market. He cited the increase in cash circulation (M0) from 24 trillion to 51 trillion soums over five years, accompanied by a decline in its share of GDP from 4.29% to 3.5%. According to him, around 38% of purchases are made by card. He also noted ongoing competition between card payment systems over merchant fees and predicted that the rate for NPS card payments would rise to 1%.

Among other trends he mentioned were intensifying competition between QR and NFC payments, particularly in light of planned amendments to the personal data law that may open the market to Apple Pay and Google Pay; integration of e-commerce and payment services with retailers’ ERP systems; and rapid growth in the fintech sector, which expanded from 24 companies in 2018 to 103 in 2025. Domestic fintechs have attracted more than US$260 million in foreign investment this year—four times the previous year’s amount.

Murat Kastan (Türkiye), CEO of UPT, described the transformation of banks into financial ecosystems characterized by frictionless integration of cross-sector services, embedded finance in daily life, loyalty built on experience rather than brand, and high scalability via partnerships and APIs.

Alexey Fyodorov, Senior Managing Director for Development and Client Relations at the National Settlement Depository (NSD), spoke about financial platforms as universal solutions and highlighted that client access to services from multiple banks through a single interface is becoming a major market and regulatory trend.

Viktor Dostov, Chairman of the Association of Electronic Money and Remittance Market Participants (AED), discussed “hidden” trends in payments and finance and emphasized the importance for small and medium-sized players to choose specialized niches such as “borderline” loans, narrow client segments, and unique risk management. Sodir Melibaev, Deputy Chairman of Microcreditbank, highlighted current fintech developments in Uzbekistan, including the need to introduce a digital bank customer passport and harmonize regulatory frameworks across Central Asia.

At the second session, “A Modern Perspective on Banking, Payments, and Security,” speakers discussed payment system modernization and the future of the digital economy. Moderators were Alexey Maslov and Roman Chernov, Executive Director of ROSFINKOM.

Dinar Samigullin, Deputy Chairman for IT and Technological Infrastructure at HUMO, shared practical experience in implementing fintech innovations and identified five priority areas for both HUMO and the region: instant payments and explosive growth of QR/NFC; regional and cross-border payments; universal QR and low-cost acquiring; Open Finance, Open API and partnership ecosystems; and the use of AI/ML to enhance infrastructure security, reliability, and anti-fraud measures.

Matvey Goering (Belgium), Global Head of Capital Markets Business Development at Montran, spoke about achieving the optimal balance between international standards and national and regional market practices.

Alexander Seldemirov, co-founder of Ratexa, shared insights on building a leading digital bank, identifying its key characteristics: real-time hyper-personalization, comprehensive financial solutions rather than isolated products, invisible integrations in customer “habitats” (such as e-commerce loans at checkout), autonomous operations with human oversight, and an ecosystem centered on customer data rather than products. He added that only 0.5% of banks worldwide meet these criteria fully.

Igor Kim, Chief Product Officer at AVO Bank, discussed financial habits in the digital era and how banks are responding—for example, by shifting clients toward self-service instead of frequent support calls and helping them overcome emotional barriers when applying for credit.

Pavel Semyonov, Advisor to the Chairman of Modulbank and CEO of Hays Bank, outlined trends in banking for SMEs. He stressed that instead of endlessly investing in aggressive customer acquisition and brand strength, banks should focus on unconventional business solutions and products that can change the unit economics of niche businesses—such as tailored offerings for online sellers, coffee shops, or smart lending products.

Jane Lerman, Head of PMO at DSH, described an online accounting solution for bank clients, while Andrey Leushev, President of Fazum, spoke about new opportunities for generative AI in banking.

A parallel session, “Practical Experience in Implementing Fintech Innovations,” featured case studies from AVO Bank, T-Bank, SberMobile, ANORBANK, U-BSS and OZ PLANET. Shakhzod Ganiev, Regional Manager for CIS at IT PARK Uzbekistan’s Export Department, explained why Uzbekistan has become a territory of fintech opportunity.

The fourth session focused on global experience in AI adoption and the shift from research to active development. Nikolai Mozganov, Head of AI Development at Tochka Bank, said customers can now ask anything about growing their business and access the necessary services simply by describing their needs to an AI assistant.

Rudradeb Mitra, founder and CEO of Omdena, analyzed the convergence of linguistic models and AI in banking. Sergey Frolov, Director of Financial Projects at IBS, outlined the path from fragmented data storage to AI integration, while Mikhail Shmitov, CEO of Deco Systems, shared experience with RegTech reporting for the Central Bank of Uzbekistan.

A panel discussion on AI and LLM implementation in banking followed, moderated by Bekhzod Ismoilov, Executive Director of the Central Asian Association of Artificial Intelligence, with participation from Sergey Chekalkin (TBC Uzbekistan), Nikolai Mozganov (Tochka Bank), Muzaffar Jalolov (Vice-Rector for Digital Transformation at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy) and Olga Blednova (CEO of CIFRA FINANCE).

The fifth session in the parallel track explored the formation of the crypto ecosystem, the role of blockchain in international payments, and the use of cryptoassets and stablecoins in Central Asia. Speakers included experts from HUMO, XRuby, the Cyber Industry Association (Belarus), Asterium, and Uzbekistan’s National Agency for Perspective Projects.

The sixth session focused on innovation-driven development and HR challenges in the banking and payments sectors. Alexey Veretenov, Managing Partner at Senteo Inc., presented a case study on building a super-app, noting that targeted customer offerings and partnerships with banks are now the main tools for engagement. Marina Gumina, HR Director at NMPK, HUMO, explained how leadership drives innovation and identified five core competencies of modern leaders: disruptive capability, data analytics proficiency, collaboration with AI, practical intelligence, and adaptability.

Independent expert Maksim Mitusov (W1) discussed what makes Uzbekistan unique on its path from cash to cashless payments. He predicted growth in consumer transaction activity, a reshaping of payment habits, expansion of card infrastructure—sometimes through unconventional methods—and the withdrawal of several players into niche segments.

Yuriy Gribanov, founder and CEO of Frank RG, shared analytics and forecasts for global and Uzbek retail financial services, stating that the retail loan portfolio is expected to reach 25% of Uzbekistan’s GDP by 2035.

The forum concluded with a keynote session featuring special guests Spartak Tetrashvili, CEO and Chairman of TBC Bank Uzbekistan, and Viktor Orlovsky, founder and Managing Partner of R136 Ventures and Silicon Valley investor.

“This year, the forum was held for the second time. We succeeded in bringing together outstanding professionals and experts from different countries who shared their insights and forecasts for the financial sector’s development in Central Asia and Uzbekistan in particular. A key innovation was the addition of dedicated sessions on AI and cryptoassets, as well as participation from globally recognized experts,” said Alexey Maslov, the forum’s executive producer.

“FINNEXT Asia in Tashkent is becoming a true convergence point where the global fintech agenda meets the ambitions of the region’s fast-growing markets. Here, on one platform, we unite leaders from Uzbekistan, Russia, Europe, Asia, and the United States not only to discuss trending topics but to launch real partnerships and projects.
For us, it is essential that discussions about the future of financial services move beyond countries and brands. As a platform, FINNEXT Asia will continue strengthening this international collaboration and helping the market shift faster from ideas to implementation,” said Evgeniya Yakunina, Chair of the Organizing Committee.

National Payment Partner: HUMO
Partners: DECO Systems, U-BSS, AVO, IBS, Arvion, Montran, MBA Consult, ratexa.ai, Komissar Online, CommIT, Defense Insurance, Dariger Online, Digital Silk Highway, Farzoom.
Concept Partners: Person Hunters, International Beverage Tashkent, marketing.uz, University of World Economy and Diplomacy.