Money in Uzbekistan: cash, cards and ATMs

Cash or card: what works where

Carry both. A Visa or Mastercard issued outside Russia works in most mid-range and upmarket hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and malls in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara, in the Yandex Go and MyTaxi apps, and on the railway’s ticket site. Bazaar stalls, street food, teahouses, taxis hailed on the street and some museum ticket windows want som in cash, or a local payment app that needs an Uzbek bank card.

So split the trip by line. Rooms, train tickets and bigger restaurant bills go on the card; meals at plov centres, bazaar shopping, street taxis and small tickets are cash. In our 7-day worksheet, food and local transport, the cash-heavy lines, come to about 239,000 som (US$20) per person a day at mid-range level.

The law adds one rule. Since 1 April 2026 alcohol, tobacco and fuel can be paid for only by card or payment app. Since 1 June 2026 hotels, restaurants and cafés are allowed to take cash for alcohol and tobacco again; shops and filling stations are not. Without a working card, buy drinks where you eat or sleep, and have your driver pay for fuel.

Service charges and tips are covered in travel tips.

Getting som: cash dollars cost 0.4%, an ATM 1–1.5%

The cheapest som come from clean US dollars changed at a bank. On 25 September, 1,000,000 som cost about 4,300 som more in dollars than at the Central Bank rate, and about 19,800 more in euros. An ATM withdrawal of the same amount costs 10,000–15,000 som in ATM fees before your own bank adds its fee and exchange margin.

Roubles are the expensive way. Octobank bought them 42.6% below the Central Bank rate, so the same 1,000,000 som cost about 741,000 som extra. Bring dollars or euros, and keep the card for what you cannot plan in cash.

For a week the gap is small in money: 3,000,000 som of spending cash costs about 13,000 som extra in dollars and 45,000 at a 1.5% ATM. Dollars for the first days and the card for top-ups is a sound mix, and it leaves you with a backup if the card is declined.

ATM fees: 1% to 1.5%, plus your own bank’s charge

Every withdrawal carries two charges: the fee of the bank that owns the ATM, and your card issuer’s fee and exchange margin. For a card from another bank, the ATM owner takes 1–1.5% at Kapitalbank, Hamkorbank and NBU; the table gives each tariff clause. UnionPay cards pay 1% at Kapitalbank and 1–1.5% at Hamkorbank.

ATMs pay out som. The Central Bank limited ATM withdrawals on international cards to som from 1 October 2019. US-dollar cash comes from a bank cash desk: Hamkorbank charges 1.5% for dollars on another bank’s Visa through its cash-desk terminal.

The tariffs set no cap on a single withdrawal, but local business media gave 3,000,000 som (about US$254) as the maximum per withdrawal in July 2025. Your card’s own daily cash limit applies on top.

When the screen offers to charge you in your home currency, choose som. That offer is dynamic currency conversion: under Visa’s rules the screen must show the exchange rate and any markup before you accept, and declining it does not cancel the withdrawal.

Exchanging cash: dollars and euros, not roubles

Change money at a bank’s exchange counter or at a bank’s currency-exchange machine, and bring US dollars or euros. On 25 September Octobank bought dollars 0.4% below the Central Bank rate and euros 1.9% below; the rouble row of the table shows why roubles are the wrong currency to bring. Hamkorbank quoted the same 11,780 and 11,870 som for the dollar on 26 September.

Hamkorbank changes up to US$100 without ID; above that, show your passport. Its offices open Monday to Friday 09:00–17:00, some until 20:00 and on Saturday 09:00–13:00, and they close on Sunday.

Bring notes in good condition. Hamkorbank charges 5% to swap a damaged dollar or euro note for a sound one, 1% to break large foreign notes into small ones or the reverse, and 500 som a note, at least 5,000 som, to test a doubtful note on its detector.

Ask for small som notes in return. Banknotes run from 1,000 to 200,000 som, while prices at stalls, on buses and in teahouses run from 1,700 to 70,000 som, so 5,000- to 50,000-som notes get used most.

1. 1

   Say which way

   You are selling dollars or euros for som, so the bank’s buying rate applies.

2. 2

   Match the total

   At Octobank’s rate of 25 September, US$100 gives 1,178,000 som and €100 gives 1,319,000 som.

3. 3

   Count at the window

   Count the notes before you leave the window and keep the receipt with your passport.

Your first som: at Tashkent airport

NBU’s exchange counters in the arrivals and departures halls work 24 hours, so a night landing is no problem for cash. Licensed taxis and Yandex Go cars pick up in lane 1 outside arrivals, with fares into the city from 50,000 som and 20 minutes of free waiting.

City buses stopped taking cash on board on 1 January 2025: a ride costs 1,700 som paid electronically, or 3,000 som with a QR ticket from a machine. Changing US$50 at 11,780 gives 589,000 som; after the taxi, two days of budget meals at 143,000 som a day (our worksheet’s figure) and ten metro or bus rides, about 236,000 som is left.

The arrival hall, SIM cards and the ride into town in detail: arriving at Tashkent airport.

Mir and other Russian-issued cards

Cards issued by Russian banks are the exception to everything above. Mir is not accepted: UZCARD suspended Mir on its network at 09:00 on 23 September 2022 and had announced no restoration by 24 September 2026. Visa and Mastercard cards issued in Russia have worked only inside Russia since 6 March 2022. The issuing bank decides, not the passport: a card from a bank outside Russia works like any foreign card, whoever holds it.

Two Uzbek documents still name Mir. Kapitalbank’s tariff, in force since 7 August 2026, lists Mir withdrawals with no bank fee, and the railway’s public offer lists Mir among accepted cards. A tariff line or a list in a contract is not a working service, so plan the trip without Mir.

UnionPay is the open case. The Humo network has accepted UnionPay cards for payments and cash since March 2021, the railway takes UnionPay online, and Kapitalbank and Hamkorbank charge 1–1.5% for UnionPay withdrawals. Rosselkhozbank says its UnionPay card has no restrictions for Uzbekistan, but no Uzbek source covers cards of Russian banks. Make a small purchase and a small withdrawal on day one, and carry the main budget in cash.

For a long stay, Hamkorbank’s tariff lists Visa Classic and UnionPay cards issued to non-residents free of charge. The tariff does not say how long issue takes, so do not build a one-week trip on it.

Without a working card, bring US dollars or euros, buy drinks where you eat or sleep, and have the driver pay for fuel. Passport, length of stay and registration for Russian citizens: travel tips for Russian passport holders.

Before you fly, and when a card fails

Three steps at home make the problems below a delay rather than a lost day. On the trip, som for two days in your pocket covers any of them.

1. 1

   Set the card up

   Switch on use abroad, raise the daily cash limit and note your bank’s phone number; Visa’s travel advice lists the same checks.

2. 2

   Keep codes reachable

   Online payments such as the railway’s ask for your bank’s 3D Secure code, so keep the phone number that receives it working abroad.

3. 3

   Split the money

   Carry two cards from different accounts, and keep the dollars apart from the everyday wallet.

• Declined in a shop: pay from your cash, then open your banking app before a second try; repeating the payment is how double charges happen.
• Card kept by an ATM: note the bank and the machine’s number, call the number shown on the ATM or ask the branch staff, and block the card through your own bank.
• Money debited but no cash: write down the amount, the time and the ATM’s address, and contact both the ATM’s bank and yours.
• Train payment failed: open “My new orders” on the railway site before paying again. Refunds to a card take 3 to 15 working days.
• Never give anyone your PIN or CVV code, or a photo of the card, even someone offering help.

Watch out

• Roubles lose 42.6% at the counter: Octobank bought them at 80 som on 25 September, against the Central Bank’s 139.27.
• Bank offices such as Hamkorbank’s close on Sunday: change money by Saturday lunchtime, or at NBU’s 24-hour counters at Tashkent airport.
• Home-currency billing at ATMs and card terminals adds a markup: choose som every time.
• Shops and filling stations cannot take cash for alcohol, tobacco or fuel since 1 April 2026.
• One ATM withdrawal tops out at about 3,000,000 som (US$254), so a week’s cash takes several withdrawals, each charged separately.

Common questions