Best bank: SQB
SQB’s strong and well-balanced performance in 2025, driven by sustained expansion across its retail, corporate and investment banking franchises, has reinforced its position as Uzbekistan’s best bank.
In 2025, retail banking delivered solid expansion, with revenue increasing by 23% to UZS2.6 trillion ($219 million), supported by a 47% rise in deposits to UZS10.5 trillion and an 11% growth in customers to 1.72 million.
Product diversification, including mortgages, microloans and subscription-based services such as SQB Plus, alongside cashback and loyalty programmes, strengthened fee income and improved customer lifetime value.
In corporate and SME banking, revenue grew by around 23% during 2025 to UZS9.1 trillion, while deposits rose by about 10% to UZS15.1 trillion in the same period. The bank enhanced its transaction-led model through trade finance, guarantees and factoring, complemented by specialised corporate and SME centres. These initiatives improved access to working capital and supported higher non-interest income generation.
Investment banking showed rapid momentum, with revenue rising by 139% in the second half of 2025, driven by structured financing and capital markets activity, including sustainability bond issuance. Private banking also expanded strongly in the same period, with revenue increasing by over 250%, reflecting growing demand for premium products and advisory services.
Digital transformation remained a key differentiator. Platforms such as SQB Mobile and SQB Business enabled end-to-end digital onboarding, lending and payments, while automation and CRM integration reduced service time to five minutes and increased operational efficiency.
Overall, SQB’s strong financial growth, diversified business model and digital innovation underpin its leadership in Uzbekistan’s banking sector.
Best digital bank: TBC Uzbekistan
TBC Uzbekistan stands out as the leading digital bank in Uzbekistan in 2025, driven by a fully integrated, innovation-led digital ecosystem. The bank operates a 100% digital model, with all product sales executed through digital channels and instant account opening, delivering a seamless, mobile-first customer experience.
Digital monthly active users reached six million, supported by over 23 million registered customers by the end of 2025, representing more than half of the country’s population.
A defining feature of its digital leadership is continuous product innovation within a unified ecosystem. The bank scaled its flagship retail products, with the Salom debit card approaching one million users and the Osmon credit card exceeding 140,000 users.
Additional digital services have strengthened engagement, including insurance with more than 400,000 issued policies and subscription-based offerings surpassing 700,000 users, reflecting strong cross-selling and ecosystem depth.
The bank has also accelerated digital banking development for SMEs, building a fully digital, end-to-end business platform. TBC Business has grown rapidly to 55,000 registered businesses, offering seamless onboarding and instant access to financing. Corporate and SME client numbers increased by around 133% in 2025, highlighting strong uptake of digital solutions among businesses.
Technology remains central to its strategy. TBC Uzbekistan has deployed proprietary AI capabilities, including Lola, Central Asia’s first AI banking assistant, enabling personalised, real-time customer interactions. Combined with its in-house technology stack, this supports automation, improved user journeys and enhanced digital conversion.
This combination of scale, product innovation and advanced technology firmly positions TBC Uzbekistan as the benchmark for digital banking in Uzbekistan.
Best bank for ESG: SQB
SQB showcased in 2025 a strong, well-structured ESG framework, combining sustainable finance mobilisation with enhanced governance, environmental management and social impact delivery.
Environmentally, the bank has established a robust foundation for climate management. It calculated a full greenhouse gas baseline across Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and implemented a climate risk policy to guide financial decision making.
Certified systems, including ISO 14001, I-REC and EDGE for building efficiency, provide independently verified evidence of environmental performance. These initiatives support measurable progress towards emissions reduction and resource efficiency, reinforcing credibility in sustainable finance markets.
In the social area, the bank channelled capital towards eligible green and social projects through its sustainable finance framework. A landmark $300 million sustainable AT1 issuance, aligned with ICMA and LMA principles, demonstrated its capacity to mobilise international capital for real economy sectors such as infrastructure and manufacturing. This transaction attracted demand exceeding $1.35 billion from over 130 investors across 22 countries, highlighting strong global investor confidence.
Governance remains a central pillar of SQB’s approach. The bank strengthened ESG oversight through integrated reporting aligned with GRI and SASB standards, alongside an externally validated ESG rating from Sustainable Fitch. Its environmental and social risk categorisation system (A/B/C), combined with ongoing client monitoring, ensures disciplined portfolio management and alignment with sustainability objectives.
With $400 million in sustainable debt issuance and annual ESG finance targets of $750 million, the bank demonstrates consistent scaling of sustainable activities.
Best investment bank: ALKES
ALKES stands out as Uzbekistan’s leading investment bank, underpinned by strong financial performance and a focused advisory strategy in 2025.
Growth has been driven by a consistent increase in transaction activity and scale. Total deal value rose from UZS600 billion to UZS1,450 billion, representing growth of over 140%, alongside an increase in completed transactions to 10 deals. Despite operating with a lean team of four front-office bankers, ALKES has maintained strong execution capabilities and efficiency.
The bank has demonstrated clear market leadership through landmark transactions. These include the Uzum bond issuances totalling UZS700 billion, among the largest in Uzbekistan’s capital markets, and the UZS625 billion Uzagroleasing equity transaction. In addition, ALKES advised on the Boysuncoal privatisation, involving a UZS26 billion acquisition and $20 million in investment commitments.
Innovation remains central to its offering. The firm has introduced advanced bond structures and refinancing solutions, enhancing investor protection and expanding the sophistication of local capital markets. It has also played a key role in attracting both domestic and international institutional investors, supporting greater market liquidity.
Through its focus on tier 1 issuers, privatisation mandates and capital markets development, ALKES continues to deliver strong growth, deepen investor participation and set benchmarks for Uzbekistan’s evolving investment banking landscape.
Best retail bank: Kapitalbank
Kapitalbank stands out as the best retail bank in Uzbekistan in 2025, underpinned by strong balance sheet growth, expanding customer reach and continued product innovation.
The bank has consolidated its leadership position in retail deposits and loans, with deposits rising by around 18% to UZS2.02 trillion ($170 million) over the course of 2025, while retail loans increased by 14% to reach UZS1.9 trillion by year-end 2025.
The growth of the customer franchise has been equally robust. The number of retail customers rose by nearly 16% to 2.47 million in 2025, supported by consistent acquisition by the end of 2025. Payroll accounts grew by close to 19% to exceed 4.04 million by the end of 2025, reinforcing Kapitalbank’s role as a primary banking provider.
Revenue generation reflects this scale and engagement, with retail revenue increasing by roughly 25% year-on-year in 2025, alongside a rise in products per customer from 2.4 to 2.9. Customer satisfaction remains strong, with net promoter scores improving to 67.9%.
Strategically, the bank has diversified beyond its traditional leadership in car loans by launching unsecured digital lending and enhancing non-credit offerings. Innovations such as multicurrency cards, online onboarding in three clicks and the Zo’r deposit product demonstrate its focus on convenience and financial optimisation.
Further differentiation stems from digital capabilities and inclusion initiatives, including biometric onboarding, cross-border transfers and accessibility solutions such as Braille-enabled cards and ATMs.
Combined with strong partnerships, including vehicle financing with Uzautomotors, Kapitalbank delivers a comprehensive, scalable retail model anchored in growth, innovation and customer-centricity.
Best for mortgage/home loans: Ipoteka Bank
Ipoteka Bank has demonstrated strong performance in Uzbekistan’s retail banking sector, positioning itself as a leading provider of mortgages and home loans in 2025.
Retail lending accounted for 63% of its total portfolio, underlining its strategic focus on individual customers, and grew by 4.7% to UZS25,644 billion ($2.16 billion). This growth was driven by a 4.8% expansion in the mortgage segment, reaching UZS16,666 billion, reflecting sustained demand and effective product positioning.
The bank delivered sector-leading results in mortgage disbursement, achieving UZS4.4 trillion in total mortgage lending during 2025. It ranked first in both government-funded mortgages at UZS2.7 trillion and Uzbekistan Mortgage Refinancing Company programmes at UZS1 trillion, alongside a strong performance of UZS650 billion in own-funded mortgages.
A key differentiator has been its focus on widening access to home ownership. The introduction of mortgage products for customers with unofficial income expanded eligibility to underserved segments, while financing options for properties under construction supported early-stage buyers. These initiatives contributed to broader market penetration and customer inclusion.
Ipoteka Bank also enhanced its distribution and customer experience through specialised mortgage centres, improved sales channels and clearer product segmentation. Investments in digital capabilities, including mobile applications and lead-generation tools, supported increased customer engagement and higher conversion rates.
Overall, the bank’s combination of steady portfolio growth, market-leading disbursement volumes, and innovation in product design and delivery reinforces its position as Uzbekistan’s best bank for mortgages and loans.
Best for consumer lending: TBC Uzbekistan
TBC Uzbekistan stands out as the leading bank for consumer lending in Uzbekistan in 2025, driven by its fully digital ecosystem and a focus on underserved retail segments. As part of TBC Bank Group, it has scaled rapidly, reaching over 23 million registered users by the end of 2025, equivalent to more than 50% of the population.
The bank’s approach centres on simple, high-demand products and seamless digital delivery. Beginning with cash and POS loans, it expanded into more sophisticated solutions in 2025, including credit cards and buy now pay later. This product diversification has strengthened both volume and quality of lending, while addressing gaps in a market where retail loans remain a modest share of GDP.
Growth has been strong across key metrics. The loan book increased by approximately 51% year-on-year, reaching $946 million in 2025, reflecting continued gains in a competitive sector.
Innovation in consumer lending has been central to this performance. The Osmon credit card scaled rapidly, with issuance rising by over 380% during 2025 and reaching 146,000 cards, capturing 6.7% of the total loan portfolio. Meanwhile, the Payme Pay Later BNPL solution enabled over 2.7 million transactions within seven months and increased demand for advanced credit products by 70%.
Delivered through intuitive mobile apps with instant approvals and frictionless onboarding, TBC Uzbekistan has transformed access to credit. Its data-driven, digital-first model positions it at the forefront of consumer lending innovation in Uzbekistan.
Best bank for SMEs: Asia Alliance Bank
In 2025, Asia Alliance Bank reinforced its position as a trusted partner to Uzbekistan’s SME sector through a clearly defined, transaction-led approach. Focusing on practical day-to-day business needs, the bank prioritised efficient payments, financing aligned to SME cashflow cycles and enhanced digital execution.
This enabled SMEs to manage liquidity more effectively, streamline trade activities and operate with greater efficiency in a dynamic economic environment.
The bank offers a comprehensive SME product suite spanning working capital loans, short-term financing, trade finance and foreign exchange services. Its lending portfolio is well diversified across key SME-driven industries such as trade, manufacturing, agriculture and transport, supporting resilient and sustainable growth. Increased transaction volumes across payments, foreign exchange and trade finance reflect stronger product utilisation and deeper client engagement.
Digital innovation is centred on practicality. Through the Alliance Business platform, SMEs can execute domestic and cross-border payments, manage accounts and monitor cash flows remotely, significantly improving operational efficiency while reducing reliance on branch infrastructure.
Relationship management remains a key differentiator. Dedicated SME relationship managers combine expertise in transaction banking, lending and trade finance to deliver integrated advisory and tailored solutions aligned to sector-specific needs. Continuous investment in talent ensures high-quality coverage across both domestic and cross-border clients.
Performance indicators further reinforce this strategy. The bank achieved growth in SME client numbers, increased digital channel adoption and saw stronger transaction activity, supported by disciplined funding management.
Best digital bank for SMEs: TBC Uzbekistan
TBC Uzbekistan led in the review period on the strength of a clear and well executed strategy to build the country’s first fully digital, end-to-end ecosystem for SMEs, addressing a structurally underserved segment while scaling at pace.
Uzbekistan’s SME sector is both large and underpenetrated. TBC Uzbekistan identified this gap early and moved decisively, launching TBC Business as a fully digital banking platform that removes friction from onboarding, payments and daily financial management.
The platform has quickly gained traction over the review period, reaching 55,000 registered businesses, supported by a proposition that integrates banking, lending and operational tools into a single interface. A key differentiator is speed and accessibility: SME loans are approved and disbursed digitally within minutes, with minimal data requirements and no collateral, enabled by automated scoring and in-house technology. This has translated into rapid growth, with the business loan portfolio expanding by two-thirds quarter-on-quarter in late 2025.
TBC Uzbekistan has complemented organic growth with targeted acquisitions. Its purchase of a majority stake in Billz, a leading retail management platform, brings POS, inventory, CRM and analytics tools into the ecosystem, digitising thousands of merchants and providing granular business data that supports credit underwriting.
This integration strengthens the bank’s position as a one-stop operating system for SMEs, spanning financial and operational needs. Finally, its AI assistant, Lola, further enhances its offering by connecting retail demand with SME supply inside the platform.
Rapid customer acquisition, a full-service digital offering and a two-sided ecosystem linking businesses with a large retail base, TBC Uzbekistan sets the standard for SME banking in the market.
Best bank for large corporates: SQB
SQB demonstrated strong performance in serving large corporates in Uzbekistan in 2025, underpinned by scale, diversified income generation and a client-centric operating model.
The bank generated corporate banking revenue of UZS5.7 trillion ($480 million), reflecting nearly 50% year-on-year growth driven by expanded transaction banking and non-interest income, which contributed UZS1.5 trillion.
A central pillar of its success is the dedicated Corporate Centre managing relationships with 667 large corporate clients, with a target to reach 750. This platform oversees a loan portfolio of approximately UZS33 trillion and a deposit base of UZS11.6 trillion, originating more than UZS15 trillion in new lending during the year. The average loan size remains high at $40 million, evidencing the bank’s focus on large capital-intensive clients.
The bank has also delivered strong deposit dynamics, with average corporate deposits rising from $40 million to $50 million, supported by enhanced cash management and transaction capabilities. Client satisfaction improved materially, with the net promoter score increasing from 61.9% to 80%, highlighting strengthened service quality.
Strategically, the bank combines balance sheet financing with end-to-end transaction banking solutions. Notable mandates include financing 200 electric buses for Toshshahartransxizmat and supporting energy sector modernisation projects, alongside ERP-to-bank integrations and Swift reporting for multinational clients.
By investing in digital tools, sector-specialised coverage and multi-product engagement, the bank has positioned itself as a primary relationship bank for large corporates, delivering scalable growth and deepening client partnerships across Uzbekistan’s key industrial sectors.
