Content |
2024
Bank net profit growth of 17% to ₸2,55 trillion
The National Bank of Kazakhstan recorded an increase in the net profit of the banking sector by 17.05% to ₸2,55 trillion in 2024. This became known in January 2025
Total bank revenues decreased by 1.01% to ₸71,4 trillion, with the main impact being a decrease in revenues from unrealized revaluation of assets by ₸2,59 trillion to ₸63,81 trillion, which amounted to 82.7% of total income.
Banks significantly increased revenues from operations with customers by 29% and income from deposits with the National Bank by 2.5 times. These figures partially offset a 65.2% decline in revaluation revenue.
Banking sector spending, including the payment of income tax, decreased by 1.6% to ₸68,85 trillion. The main share in the structure of expenses was occupied by unrealized expenses from revaluation of assets, which decreased by 4.15% to ₸59,1 trillion, amounting to 85.8% of the total.
According to the publication, the second position in the structure of expenses was taken by operations with clients, increasing by 31.6% to ₸3,13 trillion. Their share reached 4.6% of the total spending of the banking sector in 2024.
 | The tangible increase in income related to the receipt of remuneration for deposits placed in the National Bank amounted to ₸500,3 billion, - noted in the materials of the regulator. |  |
The banking system of Kazakhstan has shown stability, despite the decline in income from revaluation of assets. Profit growth was driven by increased core income and cost optimization.
According to the National Bank, operations with clients showed positive dynamics, which indicates an increase in the interaction of banks with the real sector of the economy. This contributed to partial offsetting of the decline in asset revaluation revenues.[1]
How the digitalization of banks is going
Banks in Kazakhstan are rapidly adapting to new technologies. The key drivers of digital transformation in the relevant sector are affordable Internet, high bandwidth of information transmission channels, increasing penetration of communication services and the availability of highly qualified IT specialists. At the same time, fintech companies have only a moderate presence in the market. This is stated in a study by S&P Global Ratings, the results of which were released at the end of October 2024.
The report said that enterprises from the banking sector of Kazakhstan, and especially leading players, are investing heavily in digitalization. This is primarily due to customer preferences, a high level of IT market development and fierce competition. Initiatives are being implemented to expand the offer to customers and improve the user experience. However, the transformation of the business can be fraught with certain difficulties. In particular, the risks associated with applications, services and data are increasing, which requires additional significant investments in IT, information protection and infrastructure development. According to estimates, the average share of banks' IT expenses will grow from 8-10% in 2023-2024 to 15-17% in the next three years.
Digitalization of the banking sector in Kazakhstan is associated with regulatory issues. In general, financial services are subject to stringent requirements, with a focus on traditional financial business models and standard banking risks. This largely limits market access for new entrants. Given the growing risk of leaks, regulators are focusing on data privacy and security. On the one hand, regulation and regulatory practices support bank investment in new technologies, but on the other hand, hinder innovation in the financial sector. The National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan (PBOC) continues to study the idea of reforming the monetary system by launching the central bank's digital currency (digital tenge) - a pilot project was organized in early 2024.
The report notes that the share of the ten leading banks of Kazakhstan in the total assets of the banking system is about 88%, and the two largest financial organizations - Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan JSC (Halyk Bank) and Kaspi Bank JSC - account for about half of all customer funds. Significant market players are also leaders in banking innovation and investment in digital transformation.
| | Banks have favorable positions for investing and benefiting from digital transformation thanks to the relatively underdeveloped venture capital market in Kazakhstan and the absence of potential external competitors, the authors of the study note. | |
Against the background of digital transformation, the model of loyalty of bank customers is changing. Instead of choosing one specific bank, consumers are increasingly turning to several organizations to conduct various transactions and receive the necessary services. The transforming preferences of customers force banks to quickly adopt digital technologies and constantly improve their products and services. Urbanization, geographical location and age in particular affect consumer preferences in the banking sector and their need for digital innovation. Most of the urban population of Kazakhstan is ready to use new financial technologies adapted to their daily financial needs. About 88% of the population is well versed in technology, use bank cards instead of cash payments, and also use Internet and mobile banking services.[2]
In Kazakhstan, citizens were allowed to prohibit themselves from issuing loans and microloans
Citizens of Kazakhstan can voluntarily establish a ban on the registration of loans and microloans. This was announced on August 12, 2024 in the electronic government of the country eGov.kz. Read more here.
How many people in Kazakhstan use mobile banking
The number of active mobile banking users in Kazakhstan reached 23.3 million people as of April 1, 2024, an increase of 2.7% since the beginning of the year. These data indicate a continuing increase in the digitalization of the country's banking sector.
According to the Internet agency Bizmedia, over the past ten years, Kazakhstani banks have actively introduced digital technologies, transferring more and more services to the online format. This allowed a significant increase in the share of households using online banking from 19.8% to 26.8% over the past two years. In 2017, this figure was only 8.9%.
In the section of free applications "Finance" in the AppStore, Kaspi, Halyk and Bank CenterCredit are leading in downloads, whose assets amount to 15.1 trillion tenge, 6.8 trillion tenge and 5.4 trillion tenge, respectively. This indicates a link between the popularity of mobile applications and the size of banks' assets.
The Susan app ranks fourth in downloads and sixth in assets with 2.9 trillion tenge. Forte is in fifth place in downloads and also in fifth place in assets with 3.6 trillion tenge. The Bereke app ranks sixth in downloads and ninth in assets with 2.1 trillion tenge. Otbasy is in seventh place in terms of downloads and fourth place in terms of assets with 4 trillion tenge.
Eighth place goes to the Kaspi Pay app, designed to accept payment with Kaspi QR. Home Credit is in ninth place in downloads and in thirteenth place in assets with 823 billion tenge. Closes the top ten popular applications Tonkeeper - TON Wallet, designed to work with cryptocurrency. However, according to Bizmedia, there is no such company in the register of companies entitled to work with cryptocurrency in Kazakhstan.
Freedom Bank, which launched its super application on April 1, 2024, currently ranks 11th in downloads. In terms of assets, the bank is in eighth place with an indicator of 2.2 trillion tenge.[3]
2022: The amount of funds of Russian citizens in banks of Kazakhstan increased 3.5 times in 10 months to 88 billion rubles
In January 2022, before the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, about 24.5 billion rubles were stored in the accounts of foreign citizens in banks in Kazakhstan, which amounted to 1.5% of the total funds of individuals. In June, the amount of deposits increased to 51.4 billion rubles, or up to 3% of the total.
Further, from July 1 to October 10, the volume of balances on deposits and current accounts of citizens Russia in banks of Kazakhstan almost doubled.
On October 10, 2022, the volume of balances on deposits and current accounts of Russian citizens (individuals and individual entrepreneurs) in credit institutions of the republic amounted to 678.2 billion tenge (88.1 billion rubles). From the beginning of the year to October 10, the amount of all funds of Russians in Kazakhstani banks increased 3.5 times.
Notes
| The site content is translated by machine translation software powered by PROMT. The machine-translated articles are not always perfect and may contain errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. Read original article If you find inaccuracies or errors in the results of machine translation, please write to editor@tadviser.ru. We will make every effort to correct them as soon as possible. |