Uzbekistan banks prevent around $40mn in fraudulent transactions in 1H26
Uzbekistan banks block about $40mn in fraudulent transactions in 1H26
Commercial banks in Uzbekistan stopped 18.1mn transactions valued at UZS 461.9bn, or around $40mn, in the first half of 2026 after anti-fraud systems flagged them as high-risk, the Central Bank said.
Banks have rolled out session-based anti-fraud systems to safeguard customer funds. These systems evaluate transactions by risk level and block suspicious activity when a high risk is detected. Of the 18.1mn blocked transactions, about 3.9mn were recorded by the ten banks named by the Central Bank, while roughly 14.2mn were attributed to other banks.
Narodny Bank posted the highest value of blocked transactions at UZS 186.7bn, or around $16mn, across more than 2.2mn cases. TBC Bank came next with UZS 175.5bn, or around $15mn, across 93,215 transactions, while Uzum Bank blocked transactions totaling UZS 68.1bn, or around $6mn, across 18,022 cases.
Uzpromstroybank recorded UZS 23.7bn, or over $2mn, across 1,733 cases, while Ipak Yuli Bank blocked transactions worth UZS 5.6bn, or over $475,000, across more than 1.36mn cases. Hamkorbank recorded UZS 1.6bn, or over $135,000, in blocked transactions across 103,105 cases, while NBU reported UZS 700mn, or around $60,000, across 101,865 cases. The Central Bank’s figures also showed Turonbank with UZS 7.7mn, or over $650, across 3,121 cases, Ipoteka-Bank with UZS 4.3mn, or over $365, across four cases, and Open Bank with UZS 2.5mn, or over $210, across 6,309 cases.
Other banks together accounted for about 14.2mn blocked transactions. Uzbek commercial banks have also added antivirus systems to their mobile apps to detect malicious software and APK files installed on customers’ devices.
During the first half of the year, banks restricted access on about 1.28mn devices. Malware was removed from around 2mn devices, according to the Central Bank. Among the banks listed, Ipak Yuli Bank had the highest number of restricted devices, with access limited on 991,179 devices. Malware was removed from 57,326 devices linked to the bank’s mobile services.
Orient Finans Bank restricted access on 93,117 devices, while Agrobank reported restrictions on 55,955 devices and malware removal from 30,997 devices. APEX BANK restricted 30,506 devices and reported malware removal from 24,997. TBC Bank recorded 29,154 restricted devices and 18,181 cleaned devices.
InFinBank reported both restrictions and malware removal involving 23,707 devices. Uzpromstroybank recorded 13,544 devices in each category, while Microcreditbank restricted 11,285 devices and removed malware from 9,575. Tenge Bank restricted access on 6,914 devices, while Open Bank recorded 5,998 restrictions and malware removal from 4,859 devices.
Other banks collectively restricted access on 25,877 devices and reported malware removal from more than 1.82mn devices. The Central Bank said the anti-fraud and antivirus systems are used to identify fraud risks at an early stage, restrict suspicious transactions and protect customers’ funds and devices.