Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Several banks in Uzbekistan, including Ipak Yuli and People’s Bank, announced the suspension of operations with the Contact money transfer system.

This is due to the revocation of the license from QIWI Bank in Russia, the owner of the Contact system.

QIWI Bank’s license was revoked on 21 February by the Central Bank of Russia due to systematic violations of legislation on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

After the license was revoked, the Contact system stopped working, and deposits and withdrawals through the QIWI Wallet service were blocked.

This created inconvenience for banks in Uzbekistan, which offered clients to use alternative systems such as Western Union, Zolotaya Korona, Visa Direct, MoneySend, MoneyGram and Money Express.

QIWI Uzbekistan application stopped working on 18 December. This decision was made due to restrictions on international transfers and payments introduced by the Central Bank of Uzbekistan for payment services in September.