In Uzbekistan, international cash cards are used to withdraw Uzbek currency, Som, from ATMs.
However, it’s not clear how much the maximum amount of withdrawal is when you use your international bank cards at ATMs in Uzbekistan. Also you might want to know if you can withdraw US dollar cash from ATMs in Uzbekistan.
Can I use my international bank cards at ATMs in Uzbekistan?
ATMs in Uzbekistan allow you to withdraw local currency using an international bank card. If you want to use an international card, you should choose a machine with a VISA or MasterCard sign.
Can I withdraw US dollars from ATMs in Uzbekistan?
Some banks’ ATMs in Uzbekistan will prompt you to choose between US dollars and the Uzbek Som currency when withdrawing with your international card. If you can withdraw cash in US dollars from your bank account, you can use it to exchange local currency in Central Asian countries outside Uzbekistan. Therefore , we have selected US dollars several times, but not once did US dollar cash come out of the ATM.
I even asked bank staff whether US dollars could be withdrawn from ATMs. One bank employee told me that the National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU) handles US dollars, so I tried ATMs at NBU branches, but still no US dollars came out.
We asked a local who happened to be at the same booth, but he said something like “They never had US dollars”, so we gave up. It seems that withdrawing US dollars from Uzbek ATMs is a myth or it may well be true that they changed the law disallowing USD withdrawals.
The maximum amount of money withdraw at ATM with international cards
Now, even if we give up on US dollars, Uzbekistan Soms have to come out from ATMs. Then, what is the maximum amount that can be withdrawn using an international cash card at an ATM?
We tried several bank ATMs in different locations. Many ATMs did not seem to clearly display the maximum withdrawal amount, or maybe we just missed it.
Without knowing the maximum amount, we have tried entering 3 million som and it did not work, but we could withdraw 2 million from the same machine. Some machines showed the maximum amount as 4 million. The green ATM in the image above showed a maximum amount of 18 million som, which is a bit too large (and we doubt if you can.
Anyway, the maximum amount seems to be quite different from ATM machine to machine and it may also depend on the international card you have. In any case, it is useful to withdraw local cash from ATMs in Uzbekistan using an international card.
It’s always good to carry USD in cash as well. Everyone knows the rate!
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