TBC Bank Uzbekistan and Depot: a brand strategy for Uzbekistan's digital and consumer banking driver

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Financial Services

Research and analysis • Brand architecture • Communication strategy •

Context: Uzbekistan achieved a true breakthrough in the finance sector in a short time,
becoming the regional leader in fintech development. TBC Bank was one of the key drivers of that process. After appearing in the market just 6 years ago, in the autumn of 2020, it has already grown into a benchmark and one of the most recognizable banks in the republic, both in digital banking, where it is a trailblazer, and in the retail banking segment as a whole.

TBC Bank's objective is to expand to the entire country and scale up from a fashionable digital bank to the national flagship enterprise with a broad range of convenient products and services, while remaining exclusively digital, with no offices or intricate bureaucracy.

At this stage, instead of relying solely on the core banking architecture, the business was also actively expanding its product line and cross-platform solutions within the TBC Uzbekistan ecosystem. In addition to TBC Bank, this ecosystem includes payme (the country's leading payment application), BILLZ (a business automation platform), and digital insurance. New card products linked with payme were launched. The company entered the small and medium enterprise segment and strengthened its product offer through BILLZ integration.

Objective: The Depot team's objective was to update the brand platform and TBC Bank's communication strategy in line with its new stage of growth.

We had to adapt the brand platform for the new goals, namely:
— secure brand scaling,
— structure the brand architecture and assign roles to all functions
within the TBC Uzbekistan ecosystem,
— define brand ToV and create tools for more effective use of the platform by line personnel in advertisement, SMM, etc.

We at TBC Uzbekistan are always focused on the product and user interactions with it. We create strong financial solutions that make everyday life simpler. The proof is our success in Uzbekistan where we achieved enormous growth in the retail banking segment and are now actively scaling our corporate banking presence.

We also understand that a brand is a product as well. People trust it, connect with it emotionally, which is exactly why we're systematically investing in marketing strategy and communications, carefully crafting our messaging and positioning. Specific actions, from brand image advertising campaigns to our overall visual culture, reflect that.

Our goal is to build the leading banking ecosystem in Central Asia. This is a case where a strong brand is not an extra but a prerequisite to leadership.

Nika Kurdiani, CEO, TBC Uzbekistan

How we did it:

The joint strategic effort started with conducting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative market and audience studies in Uzbekistan.

Those studies identified multiple significant barriers. First of all, knowledge and understanding of the bank regionally were weaker than in the capital city. Secondly, it was not always associated with serious banking products like loans, deposits, cards and full-fledged everyday banking services. Thirdly, the brand was often perceived as too high-tech, complex, and out of reach for ordinary people. Another barrier was that part of the audience perceived TBC as a foreign bank that didn't fully understand the locals.

Our insight was born at the junction of the audience's sociocultural beliefs (understanding the Uzbek lifestyle, local traditions, customs, and the country's overall emotional sentiment) and the bank's goals concerning its core products: loans, deposits and cards. That made us understand that the brand needed to shift away from its image of a complex, niche digital bank toward a broader and more understandable role.

The next stage involved strategic sessions that defined the platform's basic elements: brand attributes, values and key concepts. Next, a series of workshops helped us not only establish those principles for marketing, but also communicate them to other divisions, product managers, developers and department leads.

At the same time, we structured the brand architecture, defining roles and connections among all divisions within TBC Uzbekistan to ensure a more accurate “refraction” of the new positioning across the entire ecosystem.

Trust in finance is the foundation of the business. Users trust us with their money, data and daily financial decisions, and you can't develop that trust via technology or products only.

A strong brand becomes a tool of that trust. That is why we at TBC view the brand as a strategic asset: without it, it would be impossible to scale our business and build long-term relationships with our users.

I have seen lots of ad campaigns in the banking industry and I understand one clear pattern: marketing without clear positioning almost always brings fewer results than communications built around a strong brand, an understandable platform and a clear positioning.

Oliver Hughes, Head of International Business, TBC Bank Group

The communication strategy was handled as a separate block. We defined the brand's ToV principles, developed a custom framework filter for contacts with celebrities, bloggers and key opinion leaders, and created practical formats for the platform and other brand frameworks.

The bank's new positioning, built around the “Big Dreams — for Everyone” idea, marked a new chapter in the brand's development, the mood, promises, and energy in the bank's relationship with its consumers. TBC Bank started to look like a leader that assumes responsibility for creating simple, convenient, well-arranged, accessible and undisputedly some of the best banking products on the market, relevant for all audience segments.

Consumer loans, BNPL services, high cashback debit cards, profitable deposits are not just banking products: they represent confidence in the future and the freedom to stop worrying and not waste energy and time on things that are insignificant and can be handled effortlessly by an advanced app, smooth online services, subscriptions and other solutions created every day for everyone in Uzbekistan.

As part of its updated strategy, the bank has already secured a new brand ambassador: Eldor Shomurodov, a well-known Uzbek footballer The bank continues its partnership with the rapper Konsta and a number of other opinion leaders.

Notably, TBC Bank Uzbekistan is one of the rare companies where the role of the brand, its significance and the importance of clear positioning, design and aesthetics are not just words, but a business strategy. The bank has a core framework proclaiming the brand as one of its corporate cornerstones

Farkhad Kuchkarov, Depot Strategy & Development Director

The most important thing when designing a brand strategy is that it doesn't remain just a pretty presentation or a tool used exclusively for marketing. A brand lives in everyday solutions: the product, the corporate culture, the ways we interact with both our clients and our team. That's the only way it can become a sustainable competitive asset.

That was why we designed the strategy jointly with every department and function, looking for results and discussing our vision together. Our objective now is to consistently implement it into our daily practice, ensuring that our clients and team members don't just understand the brand, but truly feel it

Nodira Sultankhodzhaeva, Chief Marketing Officer, TBC Uzbekistan

On March 28, 2026, TBC Bank launched a major integrated advertising campaign based on the new communication strategy designed by the Depot team. One of the key stages in unveiling the updated “Big Dreams — for Everyone” brand platform was the customer video by the Voskhod agency called “You Are Your Dreams.” The campaign was the first public appearance of the new platform and marked the beginning of a new stage in TBC Uzbekistan's development.

Result

As a result, TBC Bank got an updated brand platform and communication strategy in line with its new stage of growth and business ambitions.

The scale of that transition is reaffirmed by the growth of the business itself. As of the end of 2024, the TBC Uzbekistan ecosystem reached 18 million registered users, covering nearly 50% of the country's population. By the end of 2025, that number reached 23 million, with 6 million monthly active users. TBC Uzbekistan's operating income rose to UZS 3.17 trillion at the same time, while net profit hit UZS 581 billion: a 64% increase compared to 2024.

Further confirming its new level, in 2025, TBC Uzbekistan became the first and only company from Uzbekistan and all of Central Asia to be included in the prestigious global World's Top Fintech Companies ranking by CNBC and Statista.

Agency team:

Farkhad Kuchkarov, Strategy & Development Director
Anastasia Kharuk, New Business Development Director
Irina Smirnova, Senior Development Manager
Aleksey Elokhin, Motion & Video Designer
Alina Vasilyeva, Designer
Dordzhi Sangadzhigaryaev, Strategist
Aleksandr Tolkachev, Strategist Svetlana Malinskaya, Director, Account Management
Elena Kuzmina, Director, Account Management Team
Irma Zueva, PR Director
Stasya Vasilenko, PR Manager
Anna Kalinicheva, Executive Director
Aleksey Andreev, Managing Partner
Anna Lukanina, Managing Partner

Client team:

Nodira Sultankhodzhaeva, Chief Marketing Officer, TBC Uzbekistan
Aleksandra Sitnikova, Project Manager
Sardor Muminov, Creative Director
Malika Niyazmatova, Head, Product Marketing Department

Acknowledgements:

Nika Kurdiani, CEO, TBC Uzbekistan
Oliver Hughes, Head, International Business, TBC Bank Group
Spartak Tetrashvili, СЕО, TBC Bank
Stanislav Skvirsky, СЕО, payme

End Date: 12/09/2025