How does an Elcart payment work?
An Elcart card is a domestic som card issued by a Kyrgyz bank and processed by IPC, which runs the national payment system on its own. For an online purchase the shopper enters the card number, expiry date and security code on the merchant’s payment page. IPC says it rolled out 3-D Secure in 2023 and connected all Elcart cards to it, so the issuing bank can ask the shopper to confirm the payment with a one-time code before the debit goes through. The authorisation is processed inside the country, and the merchant’s acquiring bank settles the payment in soms under its agreement with the merchant.
Merchants do not connect to Elcart directly. They contract with a Kyrgyz bank that offers internet acquiring. Optima Bank, for example, lists three steps: build a working website, apply at a branch or online, and sign a contract, and it describes 3-D Secure as the security layer on those payments.
IPC is also the central hub for ELQR, the national QR standard that lets a code shown by one bank’s merchant be paid from another bank’s app or wallet.
Why does Elcart matter for merchants?
A quarter of Kyrgyz cards are Elcart. The National Bank counted 2,573,552 Elcart cards on 31 December 2025, 25.9% of the 9.93 million cards in circulation, with Visa making up most of the rest. Since July 2025 the National Bank counts only cards issued in Kyrgyzstan and excludes closed cards, which is why this figure is lower than older published totals. Twenty-one commercial banks issue and acquire Elcart cards.
IPC lists the Central Treasury of the Ministry of Finance among Elcart’s issuing participants. A checkout that only takes international cards leaves Elcart holders without a card option.
Elcart is also reaching beyond the border. In December 2025 IPC and Uzbekistan’s HUMO announced mutual acquiring, starting with Ayyl Bank. IPC has started international QR payments through Alipay+, and in September 2026 IPC and UnionPay International moved to implementing a co-badged Elcart-UnionPay card.
What can go wrong?
The 3-D Secure step is the most common failure point. A shopper who does not receive the one-time code, or closes the confirmation page, leaves the payment unfinished. Elcart+ cards can be opened as virtual cards in an app, so some shoppers may not have the card details to hand, and a QR option is a useful fallback.
Acquiring is domestic. A merchant without a Kyrgyz acquiring bank, or a provider that holds one, cannot accept Elcart. Refunds go back through the acquiring bank that processed the payment, and timing depends on that bank. Disputes follow the rules of the issuing and acquiring banks, so clear order and delivery records remain the main defence. IPC does not describe a merchant payout product for Elcart cards, so confirm payout support with the provider first.
How would Omno handle Elcart?
Omno would treat Elcart as a card scheme on its own route. Elcart pay-ins would go to a Kyrgyz acquiring bank or provider that holds an Elcart connection, with the 3-D Secure step run inside the hosted checkout or with Card Fields on the merchant’s own checkout. The merchant’s routing rules would choose between connected providers. If the chosen provider were unavailable or rejected the request, the payment would move to the next provider in the rule until one accepts. Every final status would arrive by webhook, and the routing-decision log would show which provider handled each payment.