TBC Bank Uzbekistan secures $10 Million from Global Gender-Smart Fund
TBC Bank Uzbekistan (TBC UZ), the country’s largest mobile-only bank, announces today it has secured $10 million from the Global Gender-Smart Fund (GGSF), helping TBC Uzbekistan to continue diversifying its funding base and expanding financial inclusion in Central Asia’s largest nation by population.
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The financing will come from GGSF via one of its portfolio managers - Triple Jump - who is managing the origination and relationship with TBC UZ. The GGSF aims to address the estimated $1.7 trillion gender gap in access to financial services globally by unlocking responsible financial services for underserved women, women-owned, and women-led businesses in developing markets.
The funds will be used to further expand TBC UZ’s efforts to provide loans to women and women-led businesses, in line with the company’s mission to make people’s lives easier by ensuring equal access to world-class digital financial services.
Nika Kurdiani, CEO of TBC Group operations in Uzbekistan, commented: "We are delighted to secure new financing and bring on board another valued partner in Triple Jump as we continue to diversify our funding base and expand the range of products we offer. We share Triple Jump’s vision of making an impact by expanding financial inclusion in developing markets like Uzbekistan and ensuring that easy-to-use, digital banking products are available to all”.
Jarri Jung, Director Financial Institutions at Triple Jump, said: "We are thrilled to partner with TBC Bank Uzbekistan and support the digital bank’s important efforts to bring responsible and innovative digital banking to consumers in Uzbekistan, focusing on ensuring financial inclusion of women and women-led businesses in the country. We hope that the Global Gender-Smart Fund investment which we are facilitating will make a tangible difference, improving women’s access to financial resources and helping fuel wider economic growth in the country”.
GGSF’s loan follows funding secured by TBC Bank Uzbekistan earlier this year: a $40 mln loan from FMO (Dutch entrepreneurial development bank), credit lines from Swiss impact investor responsAbility Investments AG for a total of $20 mln, $25 million debt financing from BlueOrchard, and a $10 million loan from EBRD. The latest loan from GGSM brings the total wholesale funding secured by TBC Bank Uzbekistan in 2024 at $105 mln.