ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s largest banks have come to dominate one of Central Asia’s most digital consumer finance markets, leaving less room for independent fintech startups and pushing the sector’s next phase of growth toward open banking, embedded finance and shared financial infrastructure, according to a new industry report.
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Fintech in Kazakhstan 2026 was presented at the Central Asia Fintech Summit in Almaty. The report was developed by RISE Research & Advisory, in partnership with Tarlan Payments, BCC Hub, and Fintech Center, with the support of the National Bank of Kazakhstan. This is the third annual national study of Kazakhstan’s fintech market.
According to the report, Kazakhstan’s fintech market has become increasingly concentrated around its largest banks, with five banks accounting for 69% of sector assets. Three super-apps have also emerged as the main platforms for everyday financial services.
Their apps now integrate payments, lending, e-commerce, travel, transport, government services and other everyday functions into a single ecosystem. Banks are extending the same model to small businesses, where, according to the report, they address 16 of 19 core needs, spanning from company registration and account opening to payments, credit, payroll and accounting.
Experts said that dominance has left limited space for independent consumer-facing fintech firms, pushing startups toward open banking, embedded finance and other infrastructure-driven business models.
Kazakhstan’s fintech startups raised around $72 million in venture capital between 2021 and 2025, but funding has fallen sharply since its peak at $32 million in 2023.
Investment dropped to $19 million in 2024 and just $8 million last year, with most deals still concentrated at the pre-seed and seed stages. Capital is also shifting away from consumer-facing models towards B2B and financial infrastructure businesses.
Changing market architecture
The report also highlights substantial changes in how the market is regulated. Kazakhstan is reshaping the architecture of its financial market, combining regulatory reforms with shared digital infrastructure designed to connect banks, fintech firms and consumers more closely.
A unified QR payment system, phone-number transfers, the digital tenge, Digital ID and the National Anti-Fraud Center are creating new opportunities for the sector.
According to the experts, the changes could lower barriers to market entry for fintech companies, while also bringing them under stricter compliance and regulatory requirements.
Binur Zhalenov. Photo credit: NBK
“Over the past year, Kazakhstan has undertaken its most sweeping overhaul of financial regulation in three decades. The changes include a new banking law, a Digital Code and an artificial intelligence law, alongside the rollout of a unified interbank QR payment system, transfers by phone number, the full circulation of the digital tenge, and a nationwide regulatory framework for digital assets operating alongside the jurisdiction of the Astana International Financial Centre,” said National Bank Deputy Governor Binur Zhalenov.
“Kazakhstan has become the only jurisdiction in the region to operate a full stack of digital financial infrastructure, including a central bank digital currency, instant payments, open banking and a regulated digital asset market, within a single regulatory framework,” said Zhalenov.
The shift is also visible in consumer behavior. Kazakhstan has become a predominantly cashless payments market, with non-cash transactions accounting for 88% of payments in 2026, up from 67% in 2019. Within that market, QR payments are gaining ground rapidly. Their share of cashless transactions doubled from 14% in 2023 to 28% in 2025, while QR turnover reached around $17 billion in the first five months of 2026.
On July 19, unified interbank QR and phone-number transfer systems came into effect across retail banks.
Kazakhstan is also building open-API infrastructure to allow banks and technology companies to exchange data more easily. According to the study, this will change the basis of competition. With payment rails becoming more standardized, proprietary payment systems offer less differentiation, putting greater emphasis on product quality, customer experience, data capabilities and value-added services.
“The ability to interact seamlessly between systems should not be a competitive advantage. Customers should be able to transfer money and pay for purchases regardless of which bank they use. Financial institutions, meanwhile, should compete where value is actually created: in customer experience, products, pricing and innovation,” said National Payment Corporation CEO Zhanar Samayeva.
“The same principle applies to trust. As financial services become instantaneous, increasingly data-driven and interconnected, security issues can no longer be addressed only at the level of individual institutions. Fraud prevention, digital identification, cybersecurity and operational resilience should increasingly operate at the level of the entire ecosystem,” she explained.
Banking-as-a-Service
The study points to Banking-as-a-Service as a distinct segment of Kazakhstan’s fintech market. Banking-as-a-Service, or BaaS, allows fintech companies and other businesses to offer financial products using the licensed infrastructure of a partner bank, rather than building a banking operation from scratch.
At least four banks now give external companies access to licensed banking infrastructure, processing and related services, allowing fintech firms and non-financial platforms to launch financial products through a partner bank.
“One of the more visible trends in recent years has been the growth of digital neobanks built on Banking-as-a-Service. Three years ago, such services were offered by perhaps one bank. Today, there are four or five banks providing their licence, processing and infrastructure, allowing fintech companies to create their own digital products, including niche banks,” said Assem Bolatzhan, CEO of Women in Tech Kazakhstan.
“This model is becoming increasingly popular. It works well at scale, for example in Southeast Asia and Korea. Kazakhstan’s market is smaller, but the direction remains promising,” she added.
Dynamic digital assets market
Kazakhstan’s digital asset market is also moving from regulatory experimentation toward a more established part of the financial system. Platforms licensed by the Astana International Financial Centre processed $10.6 billion in digital asset transactions in 2025, while the number of regulated providers has surpassed 50.
As national rules develop alongside the AIFC regime, stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets and crypto payments are beginning to move beyond regulatory sandboxes into commercial use. The next major area of growth could be tokenization, which may give Kazakh assets access to broader pools of global capital.
At a Sept. 15 meeting, the Kazakh government adopted a 65-measure plan to expand Kazakhstan’s regulated digital asset market and announced first tokenization projects.
