Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Ulugbek Rustamov, CEO of the payment service Click, commented on the strategic partnership with Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank, under which the parties agreed to a mutual share acquisition.

According to the terms of the deal, Halyk Bank is acquiring a 49% stake in Click for US$176.4 million, while Click will receive a 49% stake in Tenge Bank (a subsidiary of Halyk Bank in Uzbekistan) for US$60.76 million.

Ulugbek Rustamov noted that the partnership with Halyk Bank opens new horizons for Click. Over the past few years, the company has built a high-tech ecosystem, taken a leading position in the fintech market, and formed one of the strongest teams in the region.

“This is the next stage. We’re entering retail banking. Together with Tenge Bank, we’re beginning to build a next-generation bank,” he said, adding that the team now faces new challenges — and new opportunities.

Click plans to bring its principles of creating in-demand and user-friendly digital products into the banking sector, rethink customer experience, and expand its portfolio of banking services.

The company expects to receive the necessary approvals from the Central Bank and the Antimonopoly Committee in the near future, while emphasizing that it will retain operational and legal independence. Meanwhile, the Competition Development Committee told Spot that no preliminary approval requests from the companies had yet been submitted.

“Click is not stopping — we continue to scale. This is just the beginning,” the company head concluded.