Fintech & digital payments rules in Turkmenistan (2026)

The Central Bank of Turkmenistan (CBT) licenses banking activity, sets the rules/forms/standards for non-cash settlements, supervises interbank payment systems and supports the settlement-and-payment system under the Law 'On the Central Bank of Turkmenistan' and the Law 'On Credit Institutions and Banking Activity'. Payment provision is tied to a banking licence, not a separate PSP/EMI licence.

Turkmenistan has not established a distinct licensing category for payment institutions or electronic-money institutions as found in the EU or neighbouring states; cashless/e-money services are delivered through state-controlled banks under their banking licences rather than through independent fintech licensees.

The CBT launched the unified 'Altyn Asyr' national payment/card system in 2001 to integrate earlier local schemes; its processing centre sits in state bank Halkbank. By late 2024 there were ~5.9 million cards, 2,138 ATMs and ~40,000 POS terminals in circulation.

Internet banking was rolled out across all banks on the Altyn Asyr network in 2017, and contactless payment via NFC and QR codes was introduced in 2023, but these are central-bank-driven additions to the bank-operated system rather than an independently licensed instant-payment rail.

There is no open-banking framework (no mandated APIs or third-party access rules) and no buy-now-pay-later-specific regulation in force; consumer credit and deposit functions sit within the licensed banking sector and the state card system.

The Law on Virtual Assets (passed November 2025, in force 1 January 2026) creates a separate CBT-administered licensing regime for crypto miners, exchanges and custodians, but expressly excludes virtual assets from legal tender, currency, securities and electronic money, prohibiting their use to pay for goods, services or salaries.