Future of banks 2030: what is already unfolding

What we see by 2030

This is the “finish what was started” horizon. Base elements visible.

Biometric onboarding default. cbu.uz April 2026 framework matures, by 2030 — standard. Physical visits for onboarding rare.

BaaS established. Top UZ banks have production BaaS partner programmes. Mid-tier banks scrambling to catch up. Small banks become BaaS consumers.

Real-time payments universal. SBP-equivalent in UZ live, instant settlement standard. Card payments squeezed on cost benefit.

AI agents tier 1 customer service. Not today’s chatbots, agentic interfaces resolve cases end-to-end. Contact centre shrinks 50%.

SME platforms standard. Top banks have integrated platform (accounting + legal + Soliq). Standalone bookkeeping fintechs lose ground.

CBDC pilots active. UZ central bank tests digital som. Banks experiment with integration into wallets and products.

Cross-bank data partnerships maturing. Industry consortium for fraud, credit risk modelling. Privacy-preserving compute standard.

Branch tier strategy completed. Most banks transitioned to Flagship/Standard/Express. Closure of underperforming locations done.

ABS modernisation wave. 30-40% of UZ banks either modernised or in active migration by 2030.

Customer experience metric replaces product metrics in C-suite dashboards.

What will not happen by 2030

Full death of branches. Some categories require physical (sensitive transactions, vulnerable customers).

Universal CBDC adoption. Pilots, not mass deployment.

Pure AI customer service (without humans). Edge cases require judgement.

Signals to monitor

Biometric onboarding penetration.

BaaS revenue share at top banks.

CBDC pilot scope expansion.

NPL trends across industry.

Branch closure pace.

Related

• /en/insights/future-banking-2040/ — 2040
• /en/insights/future-banking-2050/ — 2050
• /en/solutions/banking-sme-platform/ — SME
• /en/insights/banking-biometrics-april-2026/ — biometrics