Digital Transformation as a Factor in Improving Financial and Credit Mechanisms of Service Sector Enterprises (Innovatsion iqtisodiyot)

Summary

• The number of remote banking accounts in Uzbekistan grew from about 20 million at the beginning of 2022 to 79.3 million by December 2025.p.5
• Account ownership among adults rose from 34% to 56%.p.5
• Legal entities and individual entrepreneurs account for only about 2% of remote banking users, and their number is growing three times slower than that of individuals.p.5
• Growth in remote banking users from 01.01.2025 to 01.12.2025 was 50.9% for individuals and 15.9% for legal entities and sole proprietors, against 49.9% in total.p.8
• The five largest banks by users accounted for about 32 million accounts, or 43.1% of the total, on 1 October 2025.p.8
• The service sector accounted for about 45% of gross value added in 2024, according to the World Bank.p.6
• The paper proposes using electronic invoices, online cash register data and acquiring turnover as an alternative basis for credit assessment of service enterprises.p.5

Key insights

1. Service businesses typically have few tangible assets to pledge, which makes conventional collateral-based lending poorly suited to them.p.5
2. Remote banking accounts grew from about 20 million at the beginning of 2022 to 79.3 million by December 2025.p.5
3. Only about 2% of remote banking users are legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.p.5
4. Two of the five largest banks by remote banking users are digital banks operating mainly through a mobile app.p.8
5. Adults with an account rose from 34% in 2017 to 56% in 2024, among women from 28 to 50%, and mobile money use from 5 to 24%.p.8
6. In lower- and middle-income countries on average 75% of adults have an account, which points to room for further growth in Uzbekistan.p.8
7. The digital lending circuit model has four blocks, including data sources, a data exchange platform based on open APIs and client consent, and a regulator setting the frame.p.10
8. Blockchain in Uzbekistan is still at the pilot stage for collateral records, trade finance and document authentication.p.10