Mandatory Minimum Balance Requirement Introduced for Plastic Cards

Reports are circulating regarding the introduction of a new procedure for plastic cards within Uzbekistan's banking system, as reported by Zamin.uz. According to the new rules, a specific amount must now remain on a client's card account for banks to perform automatic withdrawals.

This new regulation requires an untouchable minimum balance of at least 1,236,000 UZS. Official news outlets reported that this procedure came into effect on April 15 of this year.

The key feature of the new system is the establishment of a minimum non-reducible balance on card accounts. This amount is set at three times the national Base Calculating Amount (BCA).

Currently, this figure stands at exactly 1,236,000 UZS. The essence of this change is that when customers withdraw money or perform financial transactions, this specified minimum amount must always remain in the account.

In other words, card balances can no longer be fully depleted to zero. Furthermore, all banking operations and payments will only be processed within the limit of funds exceeding this threshold.

For example, if a citizen has a total of 2 million UZS on their plastic card, they will only be able to withdraw or spend 764,000 UZS. The remaining 1,236,000 UZS will be kept as an untouchable minimum balance.

It is worth noting that the specific legal grounds for this restriction—such as relevant laws, presidential decrees, or officially approved government regulations—have not yet been fully disclosed to the public. Nevertheless, these changes have sparked significant interest and discussion among bank customers and the general public.

Experts are awaiting further official clarifications regarding the implementation of this procedure.