FinTech & Banking Forum 2025

April 16-17
Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Let's drive the future of FinTech together!

If you have any questions about the details, partnership and participation at the FiBa 2025 conference, please contact us at
contact@fintech-360.com

FIBA 2024 How it was

MAIN STAGE| EXPO ZONE | WORKSHOP ZONE

68 Speakers

International and local leaders shared their insights and case studies

20+ hours

2 days program on the main stage, workshops and education areas

480+ attendees

Leading companies from around the world were represented at the conference

Startup Fintech Competition: Ten fintech startups from Uzbekistan and Georgia presented their projects, and the jury, consisting of representatives from Aloqa Ventures, SwiftLaunch, USAID, Paynet, and BFC, selected the winners.

1st Place: Azma Finance (Uzbekistan) secured $50,000 in investment from Aloqa Ventures. Azma Finance is a fintech platform that automates accounting, tax management, and reporting for small businesses in Uzbekistan, enabling entrepreneurs to focus on growing their business.
2nd Place: Ranko (Georgia) received a free ticket to the InMerge Summit in Baku and further qualification opportunities with Aloqa Ventures. Ranko is an AI-powered platform for digital lending that helps borrowers and banks make more informed credit decisions.
3rd Place: Xaridor (Uzbekistan) was awarded a free ticket to the InMerge Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. Xaridor is a large ecosystem and trading platform for manufacturers, suppliers, small business owners, and individuals, connecting them in one unified space.

About FIBA

The "FinTech & Banking 2025" forum aims to serve as a crucial platform for discussions and events showcasing significant fintech innovations in Uzbekistan. This forum will introduce new perspectives, address opportunities, and challenges to revolutionize the market. The event will gather key stakeholders, including regulators, fintech firms, banks, financial institutions, and other relevant participants.

Highlighted Topics 2025

AI and Machine Learning in Banking
Digital Payments and Financial Inclusion
Sustainable Fintech and Green Finance
Blockchain and Crypto Asset Regulation
E-commerce and Embedded Finance
Neobanking and Financial Ecosystems
Cybersecurity and Risk Management
Investments and Attracting "Smart Money"

Keynote speaker 2024

Tariq Qureishy

Speakers 2024

SODIR MELIBOYEV

Deputy Chairman
Central Bank Of Uzbekistan

Head of Department for development of the sphere of crypto-assets turnover at National Agency of Perspective Projects of the Republic of Uzbekistan

ULUGBEK TAVAKKALOV

Chairman
MYBANK Uzbekistan

CEO TBC Bank
Uzbekistan

FARHOD IBRAGIMOV

Director
IT Park Uzbekistan

USMON RAKHIMJANOV

Objective 1 Lead at USAID Business Support Project

NARGIS DUSTMATOVA

Chairwomen Fintech Association of Uzbekistan

ANNA AMBROZEVICH

Director at
Women in Tech Uzbekistan

Advisor
Mikrokredit Bank

Head of Sales in Europe/ Southeast Asia UZINFOCOM

ABBOS DJURABAYEV

DAVID KIKVIDZE

Chairman Fintech
Association of Georgia

Managing Partner and Co-Founder SINOFY

Executive director
Azerbaijan Fintech Association

Chairman of the Board (CEO) APEX Bank

BAKHROM NUMONOV

Jakhongir Usmonov

Country Manager
ZoodPay Uzbekistan

revaz elizbarashvili

Senior Cybersecurity expert Loialte

Bachana Shelia

Managing partner Loialte

NIKA KURDIANI

AMIR SHARIPOV

ASKAR ZAKIROV

KHURSHID KODIROV

DAVRON PARMONOV

Partner/Deputy director AloqaVentures

VASIL SHENGELIA

FinTech expert Loialte

General Treasurer, Indonesia Shariah Fintech Association (AFSI), CEO of Zipay

RAMA YURINDRA

NURIDDIN LAFIZOV

CEO | Alif Uzbekistan

MUNA SHUKUROVA

Managing Director | Alif Uzbekistan

CTO B2B Click

GENNADY NIKOLAEV

Head of Data
Management Click

ROMAN DYAKONOV

CEO MatchSystems

ANDREI KUTIN

ROMAN LAVRENTYEV

COO Uzum

NIKOLAY SELEZNEV

Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer Uzum

head of cybersecurity MatchSystems

SAF DAN

Director of Financial Technologies and Innovations Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan

FIDAN TOFIDI

Vice President for Global Expansion & Strategic Partnerships, Tether

MARCO DAL LAGO

Artem Klimenko

Co-Founder & CEO at Heemera

CEO Lockton Hub

DENIS SHIPILOV

Head of digital committee Member of the Supervisory Board JSCB Kapitalbank

ALEXEY LICHENKO

AZAR AKBAROV

Director of the
HR Department Click

MASSINO EVGENIA

Sales Director | Foranx Technologies TEMENOS Certified partner

SERGEY METELSKIY

Head of Fraud & Financial Crime Solutions Group-IB

PAVEL KRYLOV

Head of Education Practice
Group-IB, META

SVETLANA OSTROVSKAYA

VP Business Relations
Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC)

ASSEL ISSATAYEVA

Managing director of PraeLegal Uzbekistan

SHERZOD ABDULKASIMOV

Country Programme Manager
UN Women Uzbekistan

CEREN GUVEN GURES

Chief of Party
USAID Business Support Project

MILO STEVANOVICH

Director Paynet

ANVAR ISAMUKHAMEDOV

Commercial Director of Compliance Control, Rakasta.

ARKADY PROKUDIN

ELENA ANDREEVA

Founder Realt24

Founder and CEO at SWIFT Launch

STEPHEN LIN

Head of the Department of Development and Regulation of E-Commerce

Kamron Mukhammadiyev

CEO Axioma School

Tatiana Semizhon

Head of IT-Community Uzbekistan

SHAVKAT KARIMOV

Head of Representative Office at Wildberries

AKMAL PRIMKULOV

Director | Financial Services Risk Management & Actuarial team lead Ernst and Young Advisory LLC

ROMAN LESNIKOV

Head of Paynet Mobile at Paynet

FARRUKH KHALMUKHAMEDOV

CBDO OZ Planet, Factoring product development in Uzbekistan

SERGEY KUSHPELEV

CCO / MLRO / Head of Legal Paynt

NAFISA FEENEUY

CTO OFFBOX and Founder Cybersecurity Community'

Bekzod Akhmadjonov

Division Head Cybersecurity Centre at Central Bank of Uzbekistan

OLIM TALIPOV

Managing Director Business &Finance Consulting (BFC)

MICHAEL KORTENBUSCH

Director, International payment systems relations Uzcard

RAVSHAN TURSUNOV

Founder Biz Network, SM's 5AM Club

Sardor Mukhamedaliev

Co-founder of CityPay.io

ERALP HATIPOGLU

Business Development Manager at CityPay.io

ARNOLD GZIROV

CEO IT-HUNTER

RUZUMBETOV RUSLAN

Managing Director - Pay Tech , Netstratum Technologies

Mohamed Manzoor

Head of B2B Sales, Samsung Electronics Uzbekistan

SARDOR AMANOV

Chief IT Risk and Compliance Officer at Ipotekabank

Jimsher Gujabidze

Chief HR officer IpotekaBank

Venera R. Erzina

Agenda 2024

Thursday, October 3
Digital Transformation and Innovation at FinTech

09:00 – 09:30

Registration, welcome coffee

10:40 – 11:20

11:20 - 12:20

Payments innovations
Navigating payments at the time of uncertainty.

09:30 – 09:50

Opening of the conference and welcome speech

Developing Next Gen Banking transformation Success cases in Uzbekistan.
“How to handle Core Banking System transformation”

09:50 – 10:40

11:10 – 12:00

Workshop Financial Crime: Cybersecurity by Pavel Tokarev,
Match Systems

10:15 – 10:35

Workshop Heemera:
Crypto compliance for Banks/Fintech, Presentation
Artem Klimenko, CEO Heemera

Main stage

Workshop zone

USAID
Sodir Meliboyev, Deputy Chairman at Central Bank of Uzbekistan
Fintech Association of Uzbekistan

We will explore the important signals on whether to optimize , grow or disrupt. What are the important resources required in the important complex transformation journey. What is the true measure of successful transformation?

Speakers:

Bachana Shelia, Managing Partner Loialte
Sergey Metelskiy, Sales Director in Foranx Technologies (TEMENOS Certified partner)
Ulugbek Tavakkalov, CEO at MyBank
Alexey Lichenko, Head of digital committee Member of the Supervisory Board JSCB Kapitalbank

Moderator: Nargis Dustmatova, Chairwomen at FinTech Association of Uzbekistan

Fighting Financial Crime
Cyber security: Threats , opportunities and how to outsmart evolving financial crime tactics

Speakers:

Olim Talipov, Division Head Cybersecurity Centre at Central Bank of Uzbekistan
Revaz Elizbarashvili, Senior Cybersecurity Expert Loialte
Andrei Kutin, CEO Match Systems ( followed by workshop in zone 2)
Pavel Krylov Head of Fraud & Financial Crime Solutions Group-IB
Jimsher Gujabidze, IPOTEKA BANK( To br confirmed)

Moderator: Sherzod Abdulkasimov Managing director of PraeLegal Uzbekistan

Speakers:

Genadiy Nikolayev - CTO B2B , Click
Anvar Isamukhamedov, Director Paynet
Ravshan Tursunov, Director Uzcard
Nika Kurdiani, member of the TBC Group Executive Committee

Moderator: Sardor Mukhamedaliev, Founder Biz Network, SM's 5AM Club

Corporate intelligence as a tool for compliance and fraud investigations in international banking and finance: methods, actors, "do's" and "dont's".

The workshop is designed for the large audience from Banking. Learn about services, challenges and effective methodologies by the experts at Match Systems.

12:00 – 12:50

Panel Discussion how to combat CyberThreats, Success stories, Methods and preventions

Moderated by Bekzod Akhmadjonov, CTO at OFFBOX and the Cyber security community)
Speakers :

Arkadiy Prokudin, Commercial Director Compliance Control/Rakasta
Saf Dan, Head of cybersecurity MatchSystems
Svetlana Ostrovskaya, Head of Education Practice Group-IB, META
Ruslan Ruzumbetov,CEO IT-HUNTER

13:00 - 14:00

Ecommerce Development: Challenges and innovations

Speakers:

Nikolay Seleznev, Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer, Uzum
Jakhongir Usmanov, CEO Zood Uzbekistan
Nuriddin Lafizov, CEO Alif Uzbekistan
Akmal Primkulov Head of Representative Office at Wildberries
Kamron Muhammadiev, Head of the Department for Regulation and Development of E-Commerce of the NAPP

Moderator: Otabek Kurbanov, TITLE TO BE CONFIRMED

Future outlook. Innovation and E-Commerce Models, the Technology Catalysts for Sustainable Development:

12:20 - 13:00

Lunch : Exhibition networking and interviews

14:15 - 15:05

Blockchain and crypto assets:

Speakers:

Askar Zakirov, Head of Department for development of the sphere of crypto-assets turnover at NAPP
Marco Dal Lago, Vice President of Global Expansion & Strategic Partnerships Tether
Amir Sharipov Managing Partner and Co-Founder SINOFY
Artem Klimenko,CEO Heemera
Eralp Hatipoglu, Co-founder of CityPay.io

Moderator: Denis Shipilov, CEO – Lockton Hub

Regulation/Compliance and adoption
Can blockchain adoption balance innovation with cost efficiency?

Roman Dyakonov, Chief Data Officer Click.
How to implement data science with bear hands

14:00 - 14:30

15:05-15:35

Keynote Speaker/ Futurist/FinTech Expert Tariq Qureishy

15:35-16:20

Sustainable FinTech : How will upcoming regulatory frameworks impact fintechs

Speakers:

Assel Issatayeva VP Business Relations Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC)
Farkhod Ibragimov, CEO IT Park of Uzbekistan
Central Bank of Uzbekistan
Vasil Shengelia, FinTech expert Loialte
Fidan Tofidi, Head of Financial Technologies and Innovations Department Central Bank of Azerbaijan

Moderator: Roman Lesnikov, Director/Financial services Risk Management and Actuarial team Lead at Ernst and Young

The discussion will cover the important topics on ways to form the efficient ecosystem for Innovators and the role of RegTech/Suptech and government enterprise projects .

16:20 - 16:40

Coffee Break Networking
Interviews and exhibitions

16:40-17:20

Highlight Session:
Innovation debate: How do we know when something is innovative versus a new, different, better, or best practice?

Roman Lavrentyev, COO Uzum
Director, Click
Farrukh Khalmukhamedov, Head of Product at Paynet

The debate will be completed with the closing speech from Tariq Qureishy

Innovation is the execution of ideas (big and small) that are novel, unique, or haven’t been tried before—and it can apply to anything from products and processes to systems and experiences. In products, there are tangible features to compare, but in systems or services it can be fuzzier. The session is moderated by Tariq Qureishi who will ask some challenging and thought provoking questions from top industry leaders in Uzbekistan
Companies have a hard time defining what innovation means for them. Let’s debate and explore ideas…

17:00-18:30

MOU Ceremony signing in Zone 2
FinTech Association of Uzbekistan and FinTech association of Georgia
FinTech association of Uzbekistan and Loialte
FinTech association of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan Fintech Association

15:00 - 15:20

Building successful startup ecosystem

Workshop for FinTech Startups.Helping startups to succeedy
Usmon Rakhimjonov, Objective 1 Lead at Business Support Project USAID

15:30 - 15:50

Swift Launch
By Stephen Lin Founder and CEO at SWIFT Launch
Startup community from Swift Launch

10:40 – 11:00

Group IB
Svetlana Ostrovskaya, Head of Education Practice Group-IB, META
Presentation of the book release.

14:00-14:15

Keynote “Crypto Integration in Fintech: A New Era for Urban Commerce”
Arnold Gzirov, Business Development Manager at CityPay.io

Presentation from Samsung:
Products for Banking and Financial services industry
Speaker: Sardor Amanov

14:40 - 14:55

Agenda 2024

Friday, October 4
Digital Transformation and Innovation at FinTech

09:00 – 09:30

Registration

10:30 – 11:30

11:30 - 12:00

09:40 – 10:30

Serving the underserved: The outlook, projections and impact.

10:15- 10:30

09:30 – 10:00

This panel will explore the critical role that diversity plays in driving innovation and success within startups, with a special focus on women in the fintech space. We will discuss the challenges women face in the startup ecosystem, the steps being taken to create a more inclusive environment, and the impact of gender diversity on business outcomes.

Svetlana Ostrovskaya, Head of Education Practice, META,Group-IB
Elena Andreeva Founder Realt24
Venera R. Erzina Chief HR officer IpotekaBank
Assel Issatayeva VP Business Relations Astana International Financial Centre

Moderator: Sardor Mukhamedaliev, Founder Biz Network, SM's 5AM Club

Main stage

Workshop zone

The panel discussion will cover the outlook, the challenges on providing tailored products. The experts will also answer the key questions around the following: How can technology fill the gap for underserved and unbanked?

Speakers:

Abbos Jurabaev, Advisor to CEO at Mikrokreditbank,
Bahrom Numonov, CEO Apex Bank: Role of Islamic Banking products for Micro and Small businesses
Rama Yurindra, General Treasurer, Indonesia Shariah Fintech Association (AFSI), CEO of Zipay
Sergey Kushpelyov, CBDO OZ Planet, Factoring product development in Uzbekistan
Michael Kortenbusch, Managing Director at Business & Finance Consulting (BFC)

Moderator: Dildora Tadjibaeva, Senior Expert Inclusive Finance system development Program at the Asian Development Bank

Implementing AI in Uzbekistan: Compliance, Development and real value . How can fintech leaders effective strategies to fill the talent gap in AI and machine learning?

Khurshid Kodirov Head of Sales in Europe/Southeast Asia, Uzinfocom
Nuriddin Lafizov , CEO Alif Uzbekistan
Milo Stevanovich, Chief of Party at USAID Business Support Project
Nafisa Feeney, CCO / MLRO / Head of Legal Paynt

Moderator: Tariq Qureishy.Global Fintech Expert/Futurist/CEO of Xponential

12:10 – 13:30

Startup Fintech competition
Listen to 10 prominent fintech startups

Jury:

Davron Parmonov Partner - Deputy director at Aloqa Ventures
Stephen Lin, SwiftLaunch
Usmon Rakhimjanov, USAID
Farrukh Kholmukhamedov, Paynet
Michael Kortenbusch, Managing Director at Business & Finance Consulting (BFC)

12:00 - 12:20

Generative AI: Did 2023's AI experimentation in finance lay the groundwork for real value creation in 2024?
Keynote Speaker: Tariq Qureishy

12:20 - 13:30

Discussion on how the vital question on building the human capital and attracting more Women in Tech .

Speakers: