TBC Bank Uzbekistan has secured a $10 million credit line from Switzerland-based impact investor responsAbility Investments AG.
The funds will be used to further expand TBC Uzbekistan’s microlending effort, contributing to the ongoing growth of the digital bank’s loan portfolio and promoting financial inclusion in Uzbekistan, Central Asia’s largest country by population.
TBC Bank Uzbekistan is a subsidiary of London-listed TBC Group, operating via physical and digital channels in Georgia and as a branchless digital bank in Uzbekistan. The fast-growing mobile bank is part of Uzbekistan’s leading digital financial ecosystem, which also contains Payme, a digital payments app for individuals and small businesses; and Payme Nasiya (Payme Instalments), an instalment credit business.
responsAbility is a leading Swiss impact asset manager specializing in private market investments across three investment themes: financial inclusion, climate finance and sustainable food. With over 270 employees collaborating across 8 offices, as of 31 May 2024 the company manages USD 5.0 billion in assets across approximately 280 portfolio companies in about 70 countries.
Nika Kurdiani, CEO of TBC Group operations in Uzbekistan, commented:
“This credit line from responsAbility is an important part of our strategy to broaden our funding base, and it will help us extend our support to more individuals and their micro enterprises, helping them grow and prosper. We remain committed to fostering financial inclusion and economic growth through innovative financial solutions as we continue to grow our lending volumes and products pipeline, helping expand the availability of accessible modern financial services across Uzbekistan.”
This credit line follows another $10 million credit line, extended by responsAbility Investments AG’s Green Climate Partnership Fund (GCPF) to TBC Bank Uzbekistan earlier this year to help expand the bank’s green lending pipeline to support environmentally sustainable projects.
TBC Group’s ESG strategy reaffirms its ambition to be the leading supporter of ESG principles. TBC Bank Group has the MSCI ESG rating of ‘AA’, the second highest in the scale, and is the recipient of EBRD’s Annual Sustainability Silver Award for environmental and social best practice in 2023.
Earlier this month, TBC Bank Uzbekistan was assigned a Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of BB- by Fitch Ratings, the same level as the sovereign, which reflects the bank’s strong financial health and operational stability.
About TBC Uzbekistan:
TBC Uzbekistan is the largest digital banking ecosystem in Central Asia and a subsidiary of London-listed TBC Bank Group, Georgia’s largest and highly profitable tech-enabled bank.
TBC Uzbekistan has a first-mover advantage in Central Asia’s largest nation by population and is leveraging low retail banking penetration to cater to the country’s young, growing and digitally savvy population.
TBC Uzbekistan comprises three high-growth fintech businesses operating in Uzbekistan: TBC UZ, a mobile-only bank; Payme, a digital payments app for individuals and small businesses; and Payme Nasiya (Payme Instalments), a fast-growing instalment credit business.
TBC Uzbekistan reached profitability 2 years after launch – a record time-to-profit among global digital banks and has since scaled its registered user base to 15 million users. The company recorded a net profit of USD 23 million in 2023 and delivered 85% year-on-year revenue growth in 1Q24, doubling its loan and deposit books. It is rated ‘BB-’ by Fitch Ratings (equal to Uzbekistan country rating) with a Stable Outlook.
