ATM situation in Uzbekistan

[netllama]

Thanks everyone. This is great info.

I find it somewhat amusing how one person will say "you can't find any ATMs in $CITY", and then someone else immediately contradicts them.

[EvilDoctorK]

I got the impression that the ATM situation in Uzbekistan is pretty dynamic and fast improving ...so it's probably true to say that until recently it was hard to find ATMs in lots of places this doesn't seem to be so much the case any longer ( but I would still recommend not relying on them always being available and have some cash backup ) ... It still seemed impossible to pay for anything with credit card so for any transactions you'll need cash , though it's now easy enough to get that cash from ATMs it seems - I guess fancy hotels in Tashkent might be an exception, but didn't try ... the only place where I saw 'normal' credit card terminals was in the shops at the airport departure lounge in Tashkent

[InnaS]

I have not yet been successful to withdraw money from prepaid cards.

Prepaid cards work in hotels. Have not yet eaten in a fancy restaurant to pay with prepaid.

Visa debit worked for cash withdrawals (I took out USD), cheapest fee was the visa ATM Hyatt. I'd still bring everything in USD.

In Tashkent- Hyatt by far has the best working ATMs. Grand Mir and Uzbekistan were out of order. In Uzbekistan MasterCard one is hidden in a cafe.

[SONeill]

Just left Uzbekistan today after a 2week stay, now in Kyrgyzstan for another 2weeks.

Firstly in Uzbekistan visa is the card to have, mastercard for is not accepted at most atms and and only several banks. Asaka bank and orient finans, the bank will first charge your charge in us dollar then exchange to som (the exchange fee is minimal, less than 1% from memory)

Grand mir hotel in tashkent has a atm that accepts Mastercard as mention..... but it had no cash, not sure if this is a common theme.

Regarding pre paid cards, we are using a starling card which is a prepaid online bank account card, has worked perfectly so far.

Hope this helped.
Shane

[maglechowicz]

Nukus - Hamkor Bank atms accept Mastercard and charge 1% commission. Asaka Bank accepts MasterCard and gives out both soms and usd at 1.5% but you have to go into the bank as there’s no ATM. Kapitalbank accepts Visa only and doesn’t charge commission but charges you usd for soms at an unfavourable rate.

[ikatsi]

Very useful discussion, as I'm also venturing to Uzbekistan for a few days really soon I'll be
I'll be entering from Osh/Kyrgyzstan, what is the best way to get some UZS when crossing the land border? I take it I need to pay in UZS for any shared taxi to Andijon or further. If I do have any remaining Kyrgyz som, would it be easy to exchange them there, or do I have to be carrying USD with me?
Thanks, any help much appreciated!

[Uzh]

Mastercard: the atm at the street in front of the asaka bank building works. (Asaka bank atm)

The asaka bank atm inside hotel miran int did not work. Hotel employes said, that the atm usually works.

Maestro and visa plus: on the other side of the big street in front of the railway station, there is a large supermarket. I could withdrawl us dollar at the atm there. Its oriental finest bank or something similar. But only us dollar, not sum.

[ikatsi]

Thanks so much, Uzh. Do you mean all these ATMs at the Uzbek side of the border dispense USD and not UZS, or just the last one you mentioned?
Thanks again, very helpful!

[Uzh]

Only the atm of oriental bank offered only us dollar, the other one of aksa bank sum or usd. Around this supermarket opposite railway station there was another atm with a maestro sticker which i didn't try.

Apropos: exchanging usd dollar in sum is very easy. Some of the atms even can change money and there are also exchange machines if you dont find an exchange office. F.e. in the main railway station ticket hall or the better hotels have exchange offices.

At the airport i didn't find an atm accepting visa plus, mastercard or maestro. But there is an exchange office.

[netllama]

In Tashkent, the only ATM that I found anywhere that worked with Mastercard (to dispense Som) was in the Lotte Hotel, near the lobby.