Kazakhstan’s largest bank is shifting its fee strategy: free or loss-making operations are now treated as an investment in long-term customer relationships and an entry point for selling complex financial instruments.
What happened
Halyk Bank is ready to provide some products and services for free or below cost to attract and retain users. Deputy Chairman Kiril Bachvarov announced the strategy shift.
The exact date of the original speech is unspecified; the statement comes via a summary by the “Ruchnaya Ekonomika” project in specialized Telegram channels. According to the executive, the bank views these costs as direct investments in user relationships. To illustrate the strategy, the deputy chairman compared the model to investing in family relationships, where long-term results matter.
The acceptable loss on basic services now directly depends on what additional products the bank can offer and sell to the client in the future.
Country and market
This is a logical development stage for Kazakhstan’s banking sector. Fierce competition has emerged for users’ daily financial behavior. Finteqstan previously reported that the launch of a unified QR code exposed a fee battle among banks for business. This logic is now openly applied to other segments.
While the statement does not specify product categories, basic transfers, card issuance, or account maintenance typically serve as these entry points. It becomes more profitable for the bank to subsidize a client’s daily activity to offer a high-margin product at the right moment: a credit line, insurance, or an investment account.
Why it matters
The focus is shifting from earning on every single transaction to long-term monetization of the client base.
Competing with direct fees on basic services is becoming harder: large players capable of subsidizing the entry point long-term through other high-margin areas gain the advantage.
What’s next
The market will likely face further fee reductions on everyday operations. In our editorial view, this creates additional challenges for mid-sized and small players. Retaining clients and competing with large ecosystems without the ability to offset losses in some areas with other business lines will be significantly harder.
