Rules for Carrying Out Money Transfers via Money Transfer Systems in the Kyrgyz Republic

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Date of creation: 2026-02-12

Approved

by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated July 15, 2009 No. 30/6

RULES for carrying out money transfers via money transfer systems in the Kyrgyz Republic

(As amended by Resolutions of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated August 17, 2012 No. 34/4, July 31, 2014 No. 34/10, September 30, 2015 No. 59/6, October 14, 2016 No. 42/3, June 8, 2017 No. 2017-P-14/23-15, September 13, 2018 No. 2018-P-14/37-3, March 18, 2020 No. 2020-P-14/12-2, November 4, 2020 No. 2020-P-14/64-1, April 18, 2022 No. 2022-P-14/24-1, July 27, 2022 No. 2022-P-14/47-6, August 29, 2022 No. 2022-P-14/54-4, April 12, 2023 No. 2023-P-14/23-4, December 26, 2025 No. 2025-P-12/70-6-(PS))

1. General Provisions

1.1. The Rules for carrying out money transfers via money transfer systems in the Kyrgyz Republic (hereinafter - the Rules) define the requirements for banks and money transfer system operators regarding their activities in providing money transfer services through money transfer systems.

(As amended by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated June 8, 2017 No. 2017-P-14/23-15)

1.2. Money transfers without opening a bank account (hereinafter - money transfer) within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic are carried out by physical persons, residents and non-residents of the Kyrgyz Republic in national or foreign currencies through commercial banks (hereinafter - banks), licensed and regulated by the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic (hereinafter - the National Bank), using specialized money transfer systems (local, international systems) or directly through correspondent banking relations (international/cross-border money transfers).

Money transfers via money transfer systems in Kyrgyz som (the national currency of the Kyrgyz Republic) within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic must be carried out exclusively using local money transfer systems.

A money transfer via an international money transfer system within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic is provided to the recipient in the currency of the sending country, which differs from the national currency of the Kyrgyz Republic - the som.

A money transfer via an international money transfer system from within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic can be revoked/cancelled only in the currency of the sending country or in the national currency.

Note! In accordance with the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated July 26, 2023 No. 2023-P-14/45-4-(PS), the effect of paragraphs three and four of clause 1.2 of these Rules is suspended until a corresponding decision is adopted by the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Conversion (exchange operation) of a money transfer received via a money transfer system from the transfer/payout currency into another currency is carried out in accordance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic. Conversion of a money transfer is performed by banks of the Kyrgyz Republic exclusively at the rate indicated on the information board for foreign currency purchase and sale rates (as for cash exchange), in accordance with the Regulation "On the Procedure for Conducting Exchange Operations with Cash Foreign Currency in the Kyrgyz Republic", approved by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated August 14, 2019 No. 2019-P-12/42-1-(NPA).

(As amended by Resolutions of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated September 30, 2015 No. 59/6, September 13, 2018 No. 2018-P-14/37-3, March 18, 2020 No. 2020-P-14/12-2, April 18, 2022 No. 2022-P-14/24-1, July 27, 2022 No. 2022-P-14/47-6)

1.3. (Ceased to have effect in accordance with the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated June 8, 2017 No. 2017-P-14/23-15)

1.4. Banks of the Kyrgyz Republic carry out money transfers in the national currency within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic in accordance with the normative legal acts of the Kyrgyz Republic and based on the rules of local money transfer systems. Operators of local money transfer systems are banks of the Kyrgyz Republic.

1.5. Banks of the Kyrgyz Republic may become participants in international money transfer systems by signing a corresponding agreement with the money transfer system operator, complying with the system's rules and the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic. The operator of an international money transfer system is a legal entity, resident or non-resident of the Kyrgyz Republic, operating based on permitting documents for carrying out this type of activity issued by the authorized financial supervision body of the country of origin and registered with the National Bank.

The activity of a money transfer system operator - resident of the Kyrgyz Republic - in carrying out money transfers outside the Kyrgyz Republic through its own money transfer system must be carried out in accordance with the legislation of the country where it carries out such activity.

(As amended by Resolutions of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated September 30, 2015 No. 59/6, September 13, 2018 No. 2018-P-14/37-3)

1.6. A bank may conclude an agreement (agency agreement) with non-bank financial-credit institutions and non-bank organizations for providing the population with money transfer services through money transfer systems in accordance with the normative legal acts of the Kyrgyz Republic. In this case, the bank bears responsibility for fulfilling obligations related to money transfers.

(As amended by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated September 30, 2015 No. 59/6)

1.6-1. The National Bank regulates and exercises supervision over banks-participants of money transfer systems and money transfer system operators in accordance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.

The National Bank ensures interaction with banks-participants and money transfer system operators to obtain information on money transfers carried out via money transfer systems, as well as provides participants and operators with consultations on money transfers, including on matters of countering the financing of criminal activities and legalization (money laundering).

(As amended by Resolutions of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated March 18, 2020 No. 2020-P-14/12-2, December 26, 2025 No. 2025-P-12/70-6-(PS))

1.7. All relations between participants of the money transfer system, their responsibilities, rights and obligations not established by these Rules are determined by corresponding agreements or contracts.

2. Terms and Definitions

2.1. (Ceased to have effect in accordance with the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated September 30, 2015 No. 59/6)

2.2. (Ceased to have effect in accordance with the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated September 30, 2015 No. 59/6)

2.3. Money transfer without opening a bank account - the transfer of funds, a banking operation carried out by a bank by accepting cash from a physical person in national or foreign currency and subsequently transferring the specified funds to said physical person (recipient) within or outside the Kyrgyz Republic through a money transfer system.

A recipient of a money transfer within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic has the right, at their own discretion, to receive a money transfer in cash form through the bank's cashier or peripheral devices (ATM/terminal), including using a recipient identifier in the money transfer system (if provided by the system's rules), or in non-cash form by transferring/crediting funds to a bank account specified by the recipient, to a bank payment card issued by the bank, and/or to an identified electronic wallet issued by a bank of the Kyrgyz Republic.

A recipient identifier may be in the form of a single-use card that is not a bank payment card and is intended solely for receiving a money transfer by issuing cash in the amount of the money transfer at cashiers or peripheral devices (ATM/terminal) of all banks connected to this system. The validity period of such a card (recipient identifier) must not exceed 30 days from the date of sending the money transfer. Responsibility for transferring funds via the card (recipient identifier) lies with the payment system. Carrying out any other banking operations using a recipient identifier is prohibited.

If the rules of the money transfer system provide for receiving a money transfer in parts, the recipient has the right to receive part of the money transfer amount in cash form using a recipient identifier, and may direct the remaining funds to be credited to a bank account specified by the recipient, to a bank payment card issued by the bank, and/or to an identified electronic wallet issued by a bank of the Kyrgyz Republic.

When receiving a money transfer using a recipient identifier through an ATM, each cash withdrawal operation must not exceed 250 (two hundred fifty) calculation indices in the national currency or its equivalent in the sending country's currency.

The terms of use for a recipient identifier (identification requirements, limits, etc.) must be established by the system's rules, reflected in bilateral agreements between a participant and the money transfer system operator, and comply with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Money transfers via money transfer systems are considered final:

1. for the sender - at the moment of receiving confirmation that the instruction to carry out the money transfer has been accepted for execution;

2. for the recipient - at the moment of receiving cash at a bank's cashier or peripheral device (ATM/terminal) or transferring/crediting funds to a bank account specified by the recipient, to a bank payment card issued by the bank, and/or to an identified electronic wallet issued by a bank of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Money transfers without opening an account between legal entities, citizens engaged in entrepreneurial activity, are prohibited.

A money transfer may be carried out from a physical person's bank deposit (savings) account to another physical person (recipient) within or outside the Kyrgyz Republic through money transfer systems in accordance with the normative legal acts of the Kyrgyz Republic, provided that this operation is personal and non-commercial in nature.

(As amended by Resolutions of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated August 17, 2012 No. 34/4, September 30, 2015 No. 59/6, September 13, 2018 No. 2018-P-14/37-3, April 18, 2022 No. 2022-P-14/24-1, August 29, 2022 No. 2022-P-14/54-4)

2.4. Money transfer system operator (hereinafter - operator) - a legal entity, resident or non-resident of the Kyrgyz Republic, having corresponding permitting documents from the authorized financial supervision body of the country of origin (license, registration certificate, etc.), registered with the National Bank and ensuring the functioning of the money transfer system. To develop infrastructure and access points to the money transfer system, the operator concludes an agreement with participants, according to which the operator and participants undertake to carry out their activities in providing money transfer services without opening a bank account in accordance with the system's rules and the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.

(As amended by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated September 30, 2015 No. 59/6)

2.5. Sender - a physical person initiating the sending of a money transfer without opening a bank account by transferring cash to a bank or funds from a physical person's bank deposit (savings) account for sending to the recipient specified by the sender.

(As amended by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated September 13, 2018 No. 2018-P-14/37-3)

2.6. Recipient - a physical person specified by the sender as the recipient of a money transfer without opening a bank account. The sender and recipient may be the same person.

(As amended by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated August 17, 2012 No. 34/4)

2.7. Money transfer system - a type of payment system for accepting funds from the population by a payment system participant, with the condition that these funds will be paid to the addressee. Money transfers are carried out via a money transfer system both within the country (local) and across the state border of the Kyrgyz Republic (international, cross-border). Each money transfer in the system is assigned a unique identification number. The system must ensure that participants maintain records for each money transfer with identification of senders and recipients.

(As amended by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated September 30, 2015 No. 59/6)

2.8. Participant of the money transfer system (hereinafter - Participant) - a bank providing money transfer services to the population within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic in accordance with the normative legal acts of the Kyrgyz Republic and having signed an agreement with the operator regarding participation in the money transfer system. A Participant must meet the criteria for participation in the money transfer system established by the system's rules.

2.9. Electronic instruction - electronic information about a money transfer, formed in the money transfer system in accordance with established system formats and containing all necessary information about the money transfer, sender, and recipient.

2.10. Batch transfer in accordance with FATF recommendations - a transfer composed of several individual money transfers sent to one financial institution (bank) and may be addressed to one or different persons.

(As amended by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated September 13, 2018 No. 2018-P-14/37-3)

3. Requirements for the Operator

3.1. An operator (resident or non-resident of the Kyrgyz Republic) must undergo registration with the National Bank to provide money transfer system services within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.

The activity of money transfer system operators within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic without registration with the National Bank is prohibited.

(As amended by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated November 4, 2020 No. 2020-P-14/64-1)

3.1-1. To undergo registration, an operator provides the National Bank with the following original documents or properly certified copies:

1. an application for registration to provide money transfer system services, indicating the following information:

• name of the money transfer system;
• name of the money transfer system operator and country of origin;
• information on the legal and actual addresses of the operator;
• name of the operator's settlement bank, if the operator is not a credit institution;

2. a copy of the certificate and/or other document equivalent to it on state/accounting registration of the legal entity, confirming its legal status and country of origin;

3. a certificate of tax registration in the country of origin;

4. a copy of the operator's registration certificate, license/certificate and other documents (if applicable), confirming the right to carry out money transfers, issued by the authorized financial supervision body of the country of origin, licensing/regulating said activity, or a written confirmation from said authority/legal company that such permission/confirmation is not required under the legislation of the country of origin (is not a licensed/regulated type of activity);

5. system rules approved by the authorized money transfer systems authority;

6. standard agreement with participants, if any.

If the money transfer system belongs to a bank, a properly certified copy of the license for carrying out banking operations issued by the central (national) bank of the country of origin is additionally provided to the National Bank.

(As amended by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated November 4, 2020 No. 2020-P-14/64-1)

3.1-2. Official documents of foreign countries provided for registration by a money transfer system operator - a non-resident, must be legalized in the established manner, unless otherwise provided by international treaties in force of which the Kyrgyz Republic is a party.

Documents in a foreign language must contain a properly certified translation into the state and/or official languages of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Documents containing more than one sheet must be numbered page by page, stitched, signed and properly certified.

At the request of the National Bank, documents must be provided in electronic form.

Documents provided to the National Bank by money transfer system operators are not returned.

(As amended by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated November 4, 2020 No. 2020-P-14/64-1)

3.1-3. Within a period not exceeding 15 (fifteen) calendar days from the date of receipt by the National Bank of an operator's application for registration and documents for undergoing registration, the National Bank makes a decision to register said money transfer system operator or to refuse registration. The National Bank notifies the operator in writing of the adopted decision within 3 (three) working days from the date of making the decision.

The time spent by the operator on revising documents is not included in the document review period. If the provided documents do not meet the requirements imposed by the National Bank, the calculation of the document review period starts from the date of receipt by the National Bank of documents meeting the imposed requirements.

The final decision upon document review for registration is made after receipt by the National Bank of copies of the application and other documents in paper form, unless otherwise provided by normative legal acts of the National Bank.

Upon making a positive decision on registration, the National Bank assigns a registration number to the money transfer system operator, includes information about it in the register of operators providing money transfer system services within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic (hereinafter - register of money transfer system operators), and within the established period sends a written notification to the operator about passing registration, indicating the assigned registration number.

The procedure for maintaining the register of money transfer system operators is established by the National Bank.

(As amended by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated November 4, 2020 No. 2020-P-14/64-1)

3.1-4. In case of non-compliance of registration documents with established requirements and/or in case of providing an incomplete package of documents, they are returned for revision.

Additional/revised documents taking into account comments must be provided to the National Bank within a period not exceeding 10 (ten) working days from the date of receiving documents for revision by the operator. Such documents may be provided initially in electronic form, with mandatory subsequent submission of copies in paper form.

(Paragraph ceased to have effect in accordance with the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated December 26, 2025 No. 2025-P-12/70-6-(PS))

(As amended by Resolutions of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated November 4, 2020 No. 2020-P-14/64-1, December 26, 2025 No. 2025-P-12/70-6-(PS))

3.1-5. A money transfer system operator is obliged to notify the National Bank in writing of any changes to information indicated upon its registration within 3 (three) working days from the moment the changes occur.

Based on the provided information, if necessary, the National Bank makes a corresponding entry in the register of money transfer system operators within 3 (three) working days.

(As amended by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated November 4, 2020 No. 2020-P-14/64-1)

3.1-6. A money transfer system operator at the stage of implementing new services/products/services (improvements) of the system within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic must preliminarily inform the National Bank and submit a notification with attached detailed information describing the developed service/product/services, proposed changes/additions to the system, and obtain permission from the National Bank for using new services/products/services (improvements) of the system within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.

(As amended by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated November 4, 2020 No. 2020-P-14/64-1)

3.1-7. The National Bank may refuse to register an international money transfer system operator in the following cases:

• upon providing unreliable documents not meeting established requirements for registration and/or upon providing an incomplete package of documents 2 (two) or more times;

• the applicant is registered in offshore zones;

• the applicant is registered in a country included in the list of high-risk countries, formed by the financial intelligence body (or authorized authority).

The National Bank within the established period sends a letter to an international money transfer system operator refusing registration, indicating the reason for refusal.

(As amended by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated December 26, 2025 No. 2025-P-12/70-6-(PS))

3.2. An operator providing services via a money transfer system must carry out its activity within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic in accordance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, including in the field of legislation on countering the financing of criminal activities and legalization (money laundering).

If the operator is a non-resident of the Kyrgyz Republic, when concluding agreements for participation in the money transfer system with banks of the Kyrgyz Republic, the banks and operator must follow the requirements of normative legal acts of the Kyrgyz Republic in the field of money transfers, as well as legislation on countering the financing of criminal activities and legalization (money laundering).

(As amended by Resolutions of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated March 18, 2020 No. 2020-P-14/12-2, December 26, 2025 No. 2025-P-12/70-6-(PS))

3.2-1. The National Bank cancels the registration of a money transfer system operator and makes a corresponding entry in the register of money transfer system operators in the following cases:

1. in case of revocation/cancellation of an operator's permitting documents, license/certificate/registration certificate for the right to carry out money transfer system activities issued by the authorized financial supervision body of the country of origin, licensing/regulating said activity;

2. in case of submission by a money transfer system operator of an application for exclusion from the register of money transfer system operators with the National Bank or other written notification about ceasing its activity as a money transfer system operator within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic. An international money transfer system operator provides an application for cancellation of registration and exclusion from the register only after completing final settlement with payment system participants. A local money transfer system operator provides an application for cancellation of registration and exclusion from the register only after completing final settlements in the money transfer system taking into account all mutual settlements with recipients/senders of money transfers and participants.

The National Bank notifies in writing the money transfer system operator, commercial banks of the Kyrgyz Republic and other interested