Uzbekistan authorities are negotiating with Chinese company CFES to launch joint production of banking equipment. The parties are considering manufacturing payment terminals and cash register systems domestically.
What happened
According to the industry Telegram channel FinTechRetail, current meetings focus on establishing a production base in Uzbekistan. The list of potential products includes traditional ATMs, self-service terminals, retail POS terminals, and smart cash register systems.
Beyond setting up assembly lines, negotiators touched on transferring Chinese technology and launching joint investment projects. Details of the technological partnership and equity stakes remain under discussion.
The country and the market
Uzbekistan’s financial sector currently relies entirely on imported hardware. Purchasing, shipping, and clearing foreign equipment through customs account for a significant share of capital expenditures for banks and fintech companies.
The growth of cashless payments requires constant device fleet upgrades. Even with the active shift to QR payments and software solutions like SoftPOS, physical infrastructure remains the foundation for cash handling and traditional merchant acquiring.
Why it matters
A domestic production base solves several logistical and financial challenges for the market at once. Localization cuts terminal delivery times and reduces reliance on external supply chains.
Shifting from importing ready-made solutions to local assembly allows banks to scale self-service networks faster and lower the cost of deploying payment infrastructure in the regions.
What’s next
The initiative is in its early stages. The parties have not signed binding contracts or announced the expected capacity of the future enterprise. To assess the real market impact, the industry must wait for official statements from relevant agencies and approved timelines for the first test equipment samples.
