The share of business lending in the loan portfolio of TBC Uzbekistan has reached 18 percent, while the number of registered customers on its TBC Business platform has passed 67,000 since the service opened in December 2024. The figures, published as the group secured a second consecutive place in the CNBC and Statista neobanking ranking, mark a visible shift for a bank that grew first through consumer finance.
They also give an indication of how digital banking in Uzbekistan is moving beyond retail payments toward the broader needs of firms, a change that carries consequences for lenders, merchants and households alike.
What 67,000 registered businesses represent
TBC Business is described as Uzbekistan’s first fully digital solution for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. In under two years it has gathered more than 67,000 registered business clients, a figure that places it among the larger digital business platforms in the region. Registration is only the first step, but it creates a base of companies whose payments, payroll and credit needs can be served inside one environment.
The bank’s group structure supports this approach. Consumer banking and payments run through TBC UZ and Payme, while business operations are carried out through TBC Business and BILLZ. This separation of brands allows each to focus on a specific audience, while shared technology and data allow cross-selling and more accurate risk assessment.
Reading the 18 percent figure
Business lending now accounts for 18 percent of total loans. That share is modest compared with the dominant consumer book, yet it was reached in a short period. For a bank that began in 2020 and reached profitability two years after its launch, a growing corporate share indicates diversification: income is no longer tied only to household borrowing, and credit risk is distributed across more sectors.
The trajectory also matches the stated strategy. The group says it has scaled TBC Business to match its market-leading retail offering, and the lending mix is one of the first measurable results. Analysts will want to see whether the share continues to rise and at what pace, because that will show how far the bank can take its digital model into more complex lending.
Consumers still set the pace for digital credit
Retail demand remains the engine of growth and shapes the products that appear in business banking too. Households increasingly research major purchases online, including vehicles, and want to understand how instalment payments work before they commit. Interest in phrases such as “kia рассрочка” and “kia k5 narxi kreditga” reflects a broader shift in the market: potential buyers look for a specific model together with a payment plan, and they favour providers whose terms are visible and whose approval is quick. That is the context in which TBC Bank Uzbekistan has built its position as a leading consumer credit provider, backed by more than six million monthly active users.
For households, this combination of research and financing is becoming a standard step in major spending. People compare monthly payments across several offers, check how long a decision will take and decide whether to proceed in the same session. The bank that presents these answers most clearly gains an advantage that advertising alone cannot create.
The same logic helps dealers and merchants. A seller that can show a customer an instalment option instantly is more likely to close a sale, and a bank that supplies the financing earns a steady relationship with both sides of the transaction.
Payments and credit as a combined engine
The group holds more than 20 percent of the national payments market and is among the three leading consumer financial brands in the country. It also ranks itself as a top-ten consumer bank. Payments create the frequency of contact that makes credit easier to offer, because the lender sees spending patterns and can decide quickly.
Another feature of the model is cross-use. A customer who first opens the application to pay a utility bill may later take a card, an instalment plan or a cash loan, and a small business owner may use the same login for both personal and company needs. Each additional product raises the value of the relationship and lowers the cost of acquiring a new customer.
Payme and TBC UZ are described as the top-of-mind brands in Tashkent and are among the leading banking and payments names nationwide. Brand recognition of this type matters for credit demand: when a customer needs funding, the first provider that comes to mind often receives the first application.
AI and language technology
The bank has been investing in artificial intelligence across customer support, sales and collections, relying on its own speech technology and Uzbek-language large language models. Lola, introduced as Central Asia’s first AI banking assistant, advises users and helps them navigate services across the ecosystem.
Language support is essential in this setting. Customers in Uzbekistan use Uzbek, Russian or a mix of both, and tools that understand local usage are more likely to be trusted. A model trained on local speech can recognise names, places and everyday phrases that a generic system may handle poorly.
In lending, such tools have a practical role. Automated assistants can answer questions about schedules and conditions at any hour, collections teams can prioritise contacts more effectively, and sales teams can identify customers likely to need financing. Done well, the technology cuts servicing costs and makes the experience more consistent.
What the data says about the market
Taken together, the numbers describe a market in transition. A decade ago, banking in Uzbekistan was dominated by branch networks and cash. Now a single digital group reports millions of active users, a fifth of national payments and tens of thousands of registered businesses. The pace of change is notable even by the standards of emerging economies.
Investors will focus on several indicators in the coming quarters: the pace at which business lending grows, the quality of that new portfolio, the cost of serving small firms and the contribution of AI tools to efficiency. Steady progress on each would strengthen the case that digital banking can scale beyond consumer finance without sacrificing profitability.
Questions remain. Business borrowers can be more cyclical than consumers, collateral must be handled carefully and competition for small firms is increasing. Nevertheless, the figures suggest that digital channels are now credible for a wide range of financial needs, from a first mobile payment to a company’s working capital.
As the market develops, the most successful institutions will probably be those that keep both sides of the ecosystem healthy: consumers who find simple, transparent credit, and businesses that receive tools to grow.
