ATM situation in Uzbekistan

[nabeelfarid]

In Bukhara old town, there is an ATM at bank Arsak 2 km outside old town were I used Mastercard to withdraw SOM.

https://goo.gl/maps/eL8AdnU5eDPG8JM79

The other ATM that accepts Master Card in old town is at Temirs Restaurant opposite Asia Bukhara restaurant

https://goo.gl/maps/VcoeRLVLis7aYUZN8

[germanei]

If you go to asaka Bank in Bukhara you can withdraw USD with mastercard. You can go inside to the left they have an office where you present your card and enter your pin. They charge 1.5% for withdrawal. Then you get a receipt and have to go to the other side where they fill out a form. You have to sign something like 3x and then you get your USD.

[Fuller]

I'm just back (well, currently stuck in Moscow but that's a different story) from a week in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara and found ATM's were pretty widespread. Any we encountered offered both Som and USD.

In Bukhara the ATM at Temirs restaurant didn't work for us, but in the old town near Lyab-i-Hauz we found a hotel called Malika that accepted Visa and dispensed Som and USD with 0% commission.

Just to echo some comments on this thread, we found several Visa ATM's didn't dispense any money at all.

[Fenna]

I was in Uzbekistan in august and visited Tashkent, Bukhara and Samarkand. I think the ATM situation is very mixed depending on which cards you carry.

Visa ATM are absolutely everywhere (mind you, I don't carry Visa so I didn't try them). I only carried Maestro and Mastercard, and I was at some point in a world of pain. Maestro is very very difficulty to come by, and in Bukhara the Asaka bank's atm's were broken which left me with no other option but to make a cash withdrawal in the bank itself (which required it to be open. Which it wasn't).

If I were to return to Uzbekistan with these two cards I would bring more cash with me. Though, for those who have been to Kyrgyzstan, money changers are not quite as omnipresent as you would expect coming from Kg.

[jacob857]

Some data points from my side: ATMs are widespread but they rarely work (for us at least).

Last week we randomly tried in Tashkent nearby a train station several Visa-accepting ATMs, but none of them worked for us. They were either out of order, or accepted the card but then said they couldn't process the transaction. Perhaps this is because we tried late evening / early morning.

We finally took the money out in Kyrgyzstan directly in a bank in Sary Mogul (the ATM was also out of order).

A German girl we met in one of the hostels told us that Kapital Bank ATMs were the only one that worked for her

[Freeloader]

said they couldn't process the transaction. Perhaps this is because we tried late evening / early morning.

Some ATMs is Uzbekistan has a maximum limit per transaction set lower than other countries. From my experience this limit is 400,000som per transaction...if you are trying to withdraw more it will not process the transaction.

ATMs can be out of cash week end..usually some queuing
happens Monday morning when the bank people reload the cash cassettes

UZcard software/atm will process MasterCard even if there is only Visa logo outside

[jacob857]

Some ATMs is Uzbekistan has a maximum limit per transaction set lower than other countries. From my experience this limit is 400,000som per transaction...if you are trying to withdraw more it will not process the transaction.

Good to know. Thanks for all the tips!

[countryfinder]

In Khiva, I've managed to get Som from the ATM just inside the main (West Gate) of the old town with a Mastercard. I'd pretty much given up trying the MC as it never worked in any ATM I tried, so was very shocked when the money appeared! No MC sticker on the machine.

[netllama]

In Khiva, I've managed to get Som from the ATM just inside the main (West Gate) of the old town with a Mastercard. I'd pretty much given up trying the MC as it never worked in any ATM I tried, so was very shocked when the money appeared! No MC sticker on the machine.

That is truly surprising. I attempted to use that same ATM last July, and it refused to work for me.

[pvanpeters]

Based on the limited availability of MC and Maestro ATMs as i read in this topic, and the high fees my bank charges for creditcard withdrawels, i took a lot of EUR with me (Aug 2019).
I was expecting some difficulty in exchanging EUR, considering USD popularity, and unattractive rates - but it went very well. All banks i went to easily accepted EUR, and rates were fine (it would have been more expensive for me to get USD in my home country first).
I was surprised that the banks I used didn't charge any commission fee, other than the profit on their rates. As opposed to any other bank in the world who will rip you off big time when you exchange money
Overall good experience.