The payments market is expanding.
Starting in October 2026, Kazakhstan will introduce a new type of regulated market participant — Category 1 payment organizations, which will be allowed to combine payment services with certain banking operations, DKNews.kz reports.
The changes were announced on September 11 at Central Asia Fintech Summit 2026 in Almaty. Held at the Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture, this year’s summit brought together more than 4,000 participants, including representatives of banks, fintech companies and government agencies, as well as international experts.
Payment organizations will gain broader powers
One of the key developments presented at the summit was Kazakhstan’s new payments market architecture.
From October 2026, Category 1 payment organizations will operate under licenses issued by the National Bank and will be able to conduct certain banking operations alongside payment services.
The change effectively expands the range of companies able to participate in a segment of the financial market that has traditionally been closely associated with banks.
The liberalization will, however, come with additional safeguards. The new participants will face enhanced requirements for capital, digital infrastructure and information security.
Timur Suleimenov, Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, linked the new model to the broader transformation of the financial market itself.
«Digital technologies are changing the very organization of the financial market: new participants, investment instruments and methods of settlement are emerging. At the same time, the role of the regulator is also changing — we are expected to stay ahead of developments, create conditions for innovation and competition, while ensuring the reliability of the financial system and maintaining trust in it».
For the market, this represents a significant shift. Competition in payments will increasingly take place not only among banks, but also among different categories of regulated financial and technology companies.
A new bridge between banks, fintech and digital assets
The role of Category 1 payment organizations will not be limited to conventional transfers and settlements.
Under the model presented at the summit, they are also expected to serve as a regulated bridge between the traditional payments market and the digital asset sector.
This development is taking place alongside Kazakhstan’s efforts to build a regulated digital asset market. The National Bank has already launched a regulatory sandbox for projects involving digital assets and financial innovation.
According to figures presented at CAFS 2026, 34 projects are currently being implemented within the sandbox.
Another significant figure is the $700 million allocated to the National Crypto Reserve. This indicates that digital assets are gradually moving beyond the experimental stage and becoming a distinct component of Kazakhstan’s emerging financial infrastructure.
Around 400 billion tenge has already moved through the new payment system
Kazakhstan is simultaneously scaling up its conventional cashless payment infrastructure.
One of the year’s key developments has been the launch of the Interbank Mobile Payment System. Since July 19, more than 20 million transactions worth around 400 billion tenge have been processed through phone-number transfers and the Unified QR system.
The expansion of interbank transfers and QR payments is part of Kazakhstan’s National Digital Financial Infrastructure, which is being developed by the National Bank and the National Payment Corporation.
The practical significance goes beyond making payments more convenient.
The more banks and payment organizations use interoperable infrastructure, the less dependent the market becomes on the closed payment ecosystems of individual players. For consumers, this could mean greater freedom to choose a bank or application without being locked into a specific payment ecosystem.
Digital tenge transactions could reach 2 trillion tenge
The digital tenge remains another major component of Kazakhstan’s emerging financial architecture.
At the summit, participants were told that transactions involving the digital tenge are expected to reach 2 trillion tenge in 2026–2027.
The digital tenge platform is already being used in selected government and financial scenarios, while further expansion is expected to broaden the range of practical applications for Kazakhstan’s digital national currency.
At the same time, the National Bank is moving from artificial intelligence experiments to production-scale deployment. According to information presented at CAFS, more than ten AI-based solutions are already operating within the regulator.
Kazakhstan’s financial digitalization is therefore advancing on several fronts at once: payments, the national digital currency, biometrics, antifraud systems, artificial intelligence and regulated digital assets.
Antifraud system blocked 127 billion tenge in fraudulent transactions
As more financial services move online, cybersecurity is becoming increasingly important.
As of September 1, 2026, Kazakhstan’s National Antifraud Center brought together more than 270 participants. According to figures presented by the summit organizers, its work has helped prevent fraudulent transactions worth 127 billion tenge.
The National Antifraud Center facilitates information exchange between financial institutions and law enforcement agencies to identify and block suspicious transactions.
The issue was given a dedicated spotlight at CAFS through the National Antifraud Awards 2026.
The importance of this infrastructure will only increase as new companies enter the payments market. Greater competition also requires common standards for sharing information about fraudulent activity.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan plan to connect their national QR systems
Another major development directly concerns cross-border payments.
Kazakhstan’s National Payment Corporation and Uzbekistan’s HUMO payment system signed a memorandum covering the mutual acquiring of national QR codes.
If implemented, the project will allow Uzbek citizens to pay for goods and services in Kazakhstan through compatible national QR infrastructure, while Kazakhstanis will be able to make payments in Uzbekistan through the national UzQR system.
The next stage is expected to include person-to-person transfers between the two countries using consumers’ existing banking apps.
For Central Asia, this could prove more significant than the launch of another standalone payment service. The goal is to make the national payment infrastructures of the two countries interoperable without requiring users to adopt a separate payment instrument.
Zhanar Samayeva, Chair of the Management Board of Kazakhstan’s National Payment Corporation, said the main objective is to create technological conditions in which payment services are convenient, secure and interoperable at the level of national infrastructure.
HUMO Management Board Chairman Alexander Sotnikov described the project as an important step toward developing cross-border payment solutions across the region.
Tether and VEON agree to explore cooperation
CAFS 2026 also produced several international agreements.
Memorandums of understanding were signed with Tether and VEON to explore potential joint projects in Kazakhstan’s financial and technology markets.
Such agreements fit into Kazakhstan’s broader push to develop regulated digital finance. However, a memorandum itself does not mean that a specific product has been launched. The practical impact will depend on which projects the parties ultimately decide to implement.
Fintech startup gets opportunity to raise up to $100,000
The summit also hosted the finals of Fintech Stars Battle.
SHART RATE emerged as the overall winner. The digital platform is designed to help users conclude legally binding agreements online and address disputes when contractual obligations are breached.
The project secured an opportunity to raise up to $100,000 from White Hill Capital under a SAFE agreement.
Other finalists also received major prizes:
- BEHYPE, led by Aigerim Beisembina, won a place in an acceleration program in Dubai offered by Tumar Innovation Hub;
- BYTRADER, led by Muslim Abdullayev, received a 6 million tenge grant from Yandex Cloud.
Dias Savetkanov, CEO of Kazakhstan Fintech Network, said the competition is intended to connect promising teams directly with capital and industry expertise.
«Our key objective within this competition is to give teams direct access to capital and specialized expertise from leading market players. The results of the pitch session demonstrate that the region has strong developers capable of creating financial technologies that are both in demand and secure».
Kazakhstan’s financial market is preparing for a new stage of competition
The main takeaway from CAFS 2026 goes beyond any single memorandum, startup or new technology.
The composition of Kazakhstan’s financial market itself is gradually changing.
Banks remain at its core, but payment organizations are gaining a broader role, digital tenge infrastructure is expanding, digital asset projects are moving into a regulated environment, national payment systems are beginning to integrate across borders, and artificial intelligence is shifting from experimentation to real-world deployment.
Category 1 payment organizations will join this architecture in October.
That is why Timur Suleimenov’s remarks about the changing role of the regulator capture the broader significance of the transformation. The challenge is no longer simply to supervise the existing financial system, but to establish reliable rules for a market whose structure is changing rapidly.
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