Click and Halyk set to create a bank of the future in Uzbekistan

Click, a payment service in Uzbekistan that is set to become part of Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank once the bank acquires a 49% stake, plans to establish a next-generation bank, according to Click CEO Ulugbek Rustamov.

«We are entering retail banking. Together with Tenge Bank, we are starting to build a next-generation bank. For us, this is a new market, new processes and new challenges. But it’s also a new opportunity,» Rustamov wrote on LinkedIn.

Earlier this year, the two parties agreed that Halyk Bank would acquire 49% of Click shares for $176.4 million. In turn, Click shareholders will buy 49% of Tenge Bank shares — a subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank in Uzbekistan — for $60.76 million.

To complete the transaction, the parties must obtain approval from the Central Bank of Uzbekistan and the country’s antimonopoly authority. The companies expressed confidence that they will receive the necessary approvals as soon as possible.

In 2023, Uzbek media revealed that Click was controlled by its co-founders: businessman Ilyas Azimov (35%), board member Azizillo Gulamkadirov (25%), board member Ilkhom Azimov (20%), CEO Ulugbek Rustamov, and Rustam Fayziev, deputy CEO of Click. The final beneficiaries of Halyk Bank are Timur and Dinara Kulibayev.