TBC Uzbekistan Launches Fully Digital Payroll for SMEs
TBC Uzbekistan, Central Asia's leading digital banking ecosystem and part of London-listed TBC Bank Group, has launched a fully digital payroll feature for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), extending the reach of its TBC Business platform deeper into the day-to-day operations of the country's entrepreneurs.
The new capability sits within TBC Business, billed as Uzbekistan's first fully digital business banking solution. It allows SMEs to run payroll digitally at any time, including weekends and public holidays, with salaries credited instantly to employees' TBC Salom debit cards. By automating a routine but time-consuming financial process, the feature is designed to free up business owners to concentrate on growth rather than administration.
The move is a notable signal for a market where payroll has traditionally depended on branch hours and manual processing. Instant, always-on settlement to a bank-issued debit card removes a recurring operational bottleneck for smaller firms and tightens the link between TBC's business and consumer franchises, since salaries land directly inside the bank's own card ecosystem.
Demand for TBC Business has been strong since its December 2024 debut. More than 30,000 businesses have registered with the platform, and the payroll launch is the latest in a steady cadence of additions. Recent expansions include an SME lending product, a dedicated TBC Business app, and the acquisition of BILLZ, Uzbekistan's leading retail-management SaaS platform. Taken together, the build-out points to an ambition that goes beyond conventional business banking toward an integrated operating layer for SMEs.
Nika Kurdiani, CEO of TBC Uzbekistan, framed the launch as another step in the group's strategy to broaden its product offering and address more of its users' daily needs as it builds what the company describes as the region's leading two-sided ecosystem for consumers and businesses.
For TBC Bank Group, the Uzbek operation has become an increasingly important growth engine, giving its London-listed parent exposure to one of Central Asia's fastest-developing digital economies. The payroll feature, while incremental on its own, fits a wider pattern of the group layering financial and operational services around a single digital relationship with each customer.
The pace of TBC Uzbekistan's product rollout suggests further additions are likely as the bank works to deepen engagement with its growing base of business customers and convert early registration momentum into sustained transactional activity.
By Pete Sadler
