Payoneer in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan: how to open an account and get a card

Opening a Payoneer account in Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan is fairly painless, as long as your documents are in order. Here we cover who can sign up, how to get through verification, when you can get a card, what it costs to withdraw to a local bank, and how to connect your account to Amazon, Etsy and Shopify.

Step 01Check whether you meet Payoneer's requirements

If you are a citizen of Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan living in your home country, it's straightforward. You sign up as a resident, upload your local passport or ID card, and Payoneer works as usual. Both countries are on the supported list, and the service's terms don't impose any special restrictions on them.

Things get trickier for people who have relocated. Since March 2022, Payoneer has not opened accounts for residents of Russia, and in December 2022 it closed all Russian accounts. The service also won't issue cards to a Russian shipping or billing address - Payoneer's help center says so explicitly.

A Russian citizen with a residence permit in Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan can technically pass verification as a resident of that country. In practice, though, applications are reviewed case by case, and rejections are common. The reason is compliance: a Russian passport on its own raises the risk for the partner bank, and any link to Russia (a Russian IP address, Russian clients, transfers to Russia) makes a rejection almost certain.

How to lower the risk: sign up using a local phone number and a local internet connection, enter your real address as shown on your residence permit, and keep proof of address in your name at hand. And don't buy someone else's account - it violates the rules, and such accounts get blocked along with the money in them. For more on the situation with Russian passports, see our article How to use Payoneer from Russia and Belarus.

Step 02Sign up and get your documents ready

Signing up takes about 10-15 minutes. You choose the account type (individual or company) and enter your country of residence, address, phone number and the bank details for withdrawals. Use Latin characters and type everything exactly as it appears in your documents - a mismatch between the name in your passport and the name in the form is the most common reason verification stalls.

What you'll need:

• Photo ID - an international passport, ID card or driver's license. ID cards must be uploaded front and back.
• Proof of address - a bank statement, utility bill or lease agreement in your name. It's mandatory if you want to order a card.
• Business details - how and for what you get paid.

Many people underestimate that last point. A marketplace seller needs a link to an active store with listed products. A freelancer needs a profile on a freelance platform with a project history. A website owner needs a link, a description of the products and proof that the site is theirs: a page with your name, a whois report or a test file on the domain containing text that Payoneer specifies.

Step 03Get through verification without rejections

Documents are uploaded under Settings → Verification Center. That's also where you can see what's still missing, and the history shows what you've already submitted. Verification usually takes a few days, but users who changed their country report waiting up to a month, with requests for extra paperwork along the way.

Payoneer's requirements for document photos are simple, yet people break them all the time:

• the document must be valid and not expired;
• the image must be sharp, with no fingers or glare - a color scan is better than a flash photo;
• the document should be straight and fully visible in the frame.

Typical reasons for rejection: a blurry or expired passport, empty fields in the form, an inactive store or profile, an address in the form that doesn't match the one on your documents, or no proof of website ownership. Russian citizenship without clear proof of residence in KZ or UZ is a separate story.

If you'd rather not deal with the form and documents yourself, the MakeItEarn team can help you open and verify a Payoneer account - we'll tell you exactly what to upload in your case so you don't get rejected for no reason.

Step 04Order a Payoneer card

You can't order a card right after signing up. According to Payoneer's help center, your account needs to have received at least 100 dollars over the past 6 months. That means actual payments from clients or platforms, not just a balance. You also need an approved ID and proof of your residential or company address.

Checking whether the card is available is easy: go to the cards section in your account. If you see the Order card button, you can order one. If not, the same page will tell you which requirement you haven't met yet.

Here's what it costs according to the official pricing page as of November 2026:

• annual card fee - 29.95 USD;
• standard delivery - free, replacement - 12.95 USD;
• purchases without currency conversion - up to 1.8%, with conversion - up to 3.5%;
• ATM withdrawals - 3.15 USD plus up to 1.8%, or up to 3.5% with conversion.

Depending on the country, you'll get either a Payoneer Business Premium Debit Mastercard (issued in Ireland) or a Corporate Purchasing Mastercard (issued by First Century Bank, USA). Delivery times to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan aren't listed on the website - keep an eye on the status in your account and allow a few weeks.

Step 05Withdraw money in tenge and som

The main method is a transfer from your Payoneer balance to your account at a local bank. You add the bank in the withdrawals section: enter the details of an account held in the same name as your Payoneer account. You can't withdraw to someone else's account or to an account in another country.

Under Payoneer's general pricing, withdrawals in local currency cost from 1.2% to 4%, with or without conversion. Some countries also have a minimum fee of up to 20 USD. The exact rate for Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan isn't published on the public page - you'll see it in your account under Fees and when you set up a withdrawal. That's also where you can see which currency the money will arrive in: tenge, som, or dollars if you have a foreign currency account.

A few practical tips:

• If your country has a minimum fee, withdrawing larger amounts is more cost-effective.
• Compare exchange rates: sometimes it's better to withdraw dollars to a foreign currency account and sell them through your own bank.
• Don't withdraw every last cent right after each payment arrives. A "money in, money straight out" pattern looks like transit and may trigger a review.
• Keep the 29.95 USD annual fee in mind: it's charged if your account receives less than 6000 USD over 12 consecutive months.

Step 06Connect Payoneer to Amazon, Etsy and Shopify

Amazon

In Payoneer, open Get paid → Receiving accounts and copy the details of your US dollar account. Then in Seller Central, go to Settings → Account Info → Deposit Methods, select a US bank and enter the account number and routing number. Amazon may ask for an account statement - you can download it in Payoneer. We covered how to open the seller account itself in our article How to become an Amazon seller from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Etsy

Kazakhstan has an official integration: Etsy Payments pays out to Payoneer. Uzbekistan isn't on that list at the time of writing. The path is Shop Manager → Finances → Payment settings → Enroll now, then you log in to Payoneer or create an account. A new account requires an ID, a selfie and proof of address. Etsy pays out only in dollars, and the bank linked in Payoneer must be in the same country as the shop. If Payoneer asks you to verify again, you have 30 days to do it.

Shopify

Shopify Payments isn't available in Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan, so Payoneer usually serves as a wallet for payouts rather than a checkout option on your site. The separate Payoneer Checkout gateway isn't available in every country: check under Settings → Payments to see whether it's listed for your store. If it isn't, card payments have to be set up through other providers - read about the options in our articles on Stripe in Kazakhstan and Stripe in Uzbekistan.

SummaryChecklist before opening a Payoneer account

1. You live in Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan and can prove your address with a document in your name.
2. You don't have an old Payoneer account. If you do, change the country in it instead of opening a new one.
3. Your passport is valid, the scan is in color and sharp, and the name in the form matches the document.
4. You have an active store, freelancer profile or website with proof of ownership.
5. Your bank account for withdrawals is in your name and in the same country.
6. You order a card after receiving your first 100 USD, and only if you actually need one.
7. You check the withdrawal fee under Fees, not in other people's reviews.

Payoneer's fees and terms change, so before your first large withdrawal, double-check the official pricing page and your own account.