On February 21, several commercial banks in Uzbekistan announced the suspension of the Contact payment system.

Xalq Banki became one of the first credit institutions to issue a corresponding announcement. The termination of work was explained by “technical reasons” and they suggested using alternatives - Asia Express, Sberbank Online and UPT.

Also, at the time of publication, Agrobank, Business Development Bank, Ipak Yuli, Trustbank, Turonbank, MKBank, Poytaxt Bank, Universalbank announced the suspension of work with Contact.

The Russian QIWI Bank has been the operator of Contact since 2015. RBC notes the demand for the transfer system among Russian citizens who moved abroad, as well as its growth after the introduction of sanctions against Unistream in July 2023.

The Bank of Russia announced the revocation of QIWI Bank’s license on the morning of February 21. The credit institution was accused of carrying out “high-risk operations”, as well as opening wallets using the personal data of citizens without their knowledge.

After this, information appeared about the closure of replenishment and withdrawal of funds in the QIWI wallet system. This was followed by an explanation that only deposits and transfers had stopped working in the system, while withdrawals had been limited last year.