Kazakhstan raises foreign currency deposit rate to 2.5%, tenge deposits drop below 20%, and 38 more stories of the week

Starting October 1, Kazakhstan raised the rate ceiling on foreign currency deposits to 2.5% annually, while market rates on tenge deposits dropped below 20%. Bank CenterCredit participated in a $670 million syndicated loan for Almaty Airport with a $150 million share. Uzbekistan is preparing a pension reform: digital wallets for payouts, voluntary social tax for unemployed relatives, and Face ID biometrics for issuing pensioner cards.

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The foreign currency deposit limit increase is targeted: it only applies to new deposits over one year, while other foreign currency deposits remain at 1%. Starting October 1, 2026, the country introduced a higher maximum rate for foreign currency savings deposits with terms over 12 months—from 1% to 2.5% annually, the Kazakhstan Deposit Insurance Fund reported. The new ceiling applies to deposits opened or prolonged after October 1; the 1% annual limit remains for all other foreign currency deposits—term and non-term of any duration, as well as savings deposits for 12 months or less. The KDIF guarantee for retail foreign currency deposits remains unchanged at up to 5 million tenge, including accrued interest. The tenge market moved in the opposite direction: following the National Bank’s base rate cut to 16.25%, banks slashed deposit rates below the 20% annual mark in September. The maximum market rate is now 19.60% for a savings deposit with replenishment rights; a bank that previously offered 20.50% without replenishment rights lowered its rate to 19.51% in September. Six banks adjusted their rates over the month, according to the Deposit Insurance Fund's review. The National Bank’s next base rate decision is scheduled for October 23, 2026.

Bank CenterCredit allocated $150 million to finance Almaty Airport. BCC acted as a senior lender in the $670 million syndicated financing for Almaty International Airport, arranged by Bank of America, kapital.kz writes. The funds will refinance existing debt and support the development of the airport, which handled about 12 million passengers in 2025 against a design capacity of 14 million passengers per year.

Uzbekistan will transition pensions to digital wallets and launch a voluntary social tax for relatives. The President signed a decree on new pension services on September 28, Finteqstan writes citing spot.uz. Starting January 1, 2027, citizens with official income can voluntarily pay a social tax equal to 12% of the minimum wage monthly to accumulate work experience for unemployed family members. From October 1, 2026, citizens working under civil law contracts and paying the self-employed social tax automatically receive one year of work experience credit. The same decree establishes that starting April 2027, pensions can be received in a digital wallet within a bank’s mobile app, not just on a card: from this date, banks will begin distributing payments through unified accounts. Starting November 1, 2026, the Central Bank will implement Face ID biometric identification when opening cards for pensioners, and from January 1, 2027, citizens can request to transfer their pension to cash via public service centers or the unified portal.

KASE launched digital asset services and integrated Solana and Ethereum. The Kazakhstan Stock Exchange integrated the issuance, accounting, transfers, and trading operations with digital assets and digital financial assets (DFA), the exchange announced. Participants can open accounts, deposit and withdraw digital assets, conduct internal transfers and trades, and register the issuance and redemption of DFAs. In the fourth quarter of 2026, KASE plans to add the conversion of traditional financial instruments into DFAs and vice versa, registration of money purchase transactions at National Bank note auctions, and payment agent services for DFA issuers.

Starting October 1, Kazakh banks and MFIs must survey borrowers before issuing online loans. The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market required banks and microfinance organizations to conduct a survey when processing unsecured consumer online loans, the regulator stated. The requirement aims to prevent fraudulent loans, where a person takes a loan under pressure from scammers and transfers the money to third parties, and applies to all banks and MFIs issuing such loans.

By Country

🇰🇿 Kazakhstan

• Fraud protection. AFSA warned about a Telegram channel posing as the licensed company Investlink Ltd, offering copy trading with a 10–15% monthly return and citing a $1 million asset insurance policy, the regulator reported. The National Bank separately described a two-stage scam: first, fraudsters extract an SMS code posing as a courier service, then call on behalf of eGov to report an account “hack” and data leak, the National Bank warned.
• Licenses and supervision. AFSA published the results of a thematic review of AIFC fund managers and a letter outlining supervisory expectations for investor protection, the regulator's report states. On September 29, the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market issued a life insurance license to Centras Life under order No. B-220, the regulator announced, and reminded that borrowers’ loan obligations remain even if an MFI’s license is revoked, liquidated, or goes bankrupt, the clarification states. On October 2, the Agency issued Commercial Bank BNK JSC a universal banking license No. 1.1.724.150 with the right to conduct interbank loans, guarantees, and sureties, the regulator reported.
• Bank assets and deposits. Banking sector assets reached 75.6 trillion tenge by August 1, growing 6.9% since the start of the year, with 89% of assets—67.1 trillion tenge—concentrated in the ten largest banks. Otbasy Bank grew by 16.8% to 6.1 trillion tenge with NPL 90+ at 0.1% against the sector average of 4.12%; Freedom Bank added 14.9% to 3 trillion tenge, Kaspi Bank—11.1% to 10.5 trillion tenge. Over the year, sector assets grew by 16.2%, and over five years—by 2.2 times, ranking.kz calculated. Retail term deposits increased by 20% over the year to 26.8 trillion tenge: Bank RBK grew the fastest (+47.8% to 797.9 billion tenge), followed by Freedom Bank (+46.2%) and ForteBank (+38.2%). The top 5 also includes Otbasy Bank and Home Credit Bank, each growing by 23.7%. Positive dynamics were shown by 11 out of 21 banks; over five years, deposits grew 2.5 times, and over a decade—four times, the ranking.kz review states.
• Macro indicators. Annual inflation slowed to 9.3% in September, with monthly inflation at 0.6%: food prices fell by 0.1% for the month, non-food items rose by 1.1%, and paid services by 1%. Food and non-alcoholic beverages made the largest contribution to annual inflation—3.2 percentage points, and the drop to 9.8% in August was the first time the indicator fell below 10% in the last year and a half, the Bureau of National Statistics reported. The current account of the balance of payments for the first half of the year showed a surplus of $2.4 billion against a deficit of $3.6 billion a year earlier: exports grew by 27.1% to $48.5 billion amid high prices for oil, uranium, metals, ore, and grain; imports grew by 6.2% to $32.3 billion. Public sector external assets reached $130.8 billion (39.4% of GDP), public sector external debt remained at $18.6 billion (5.6% of GDP), and the debt-to-GDP ratio fell to 56.6% from 119.1% in 2016, the National Bank notes.
• Foreign exchange market. Transfers from Kazakhstan to Russia fell 14.3 times to 1.2 billion tenge in August, to Uzbekistan—by 39% to 12.3 billion tenge, to Kyrgyzstan—by 75% to 0.7 billion tenge, to Turkey—by 21% to 4.6 billion tenge. Inflows to Kazakhstan decreased by 24% to 12.2 billion tenge, transfers from Russia fell 11.9 times to 0.2 billion tenge; the figures match lows seen since at least January 2016, inbusiness.kz calculated citing the National Bank. The National Bank postponed mirroring operations with the National Fund for $200–300 million planned for September due to excess currency in the market: mirroring gold purchases, the regulator sterilized about 374 billion tenge in September; currency sales equivalent to about 907 billion tenge are planned for the fourth quarter. The tenge strengthened by 4.6% to 440.49 per dollar in September, and the average daily trading volume on KASE grew from $415 million to $474 million, the National Bank's press service reported.
• Pawnshops. The three largest pawnshops—M-Lombard (7.8 billion tenge), MK-Lombard (5.9 billion tenge), and MK-Zoloto Lombard (5.2 billion tenge)—earned a combined 18.9 billion tenge, or 51.3% of the entire sector’s net profit (36.9 billion tenge) in the first half of the year. 323 pawnshops recorded a profit, while 105 recorded a loss. Sector growth slowed to 18.3% from 31.4% a year earlier and 72.9% in the first half of 2024, and compared to the first half of 2023 (13.7 billion tenge), the figure grew 2.7 times, ranking.kz calculated.
• Capital market. The Central Depository of Armenia signed an agreement with ITS Central Securities Depository on depository interaction back on May 29: Armenian investors will gain access to Kazakh exchange securities, and ITS trading participants to shares and bonds of the Armenian Stock Exchange AMX, Finteqstan wrote.
• Payments. Kaspi added the ability for clients to pay in Vietnam via Kaspi QR by scanning merchant codes directly from the app, without a card or cash, the service announced.
• Deals and investments. Venture investor Shervin Pishevar, founder of Sofreh Capital, announced his intention to open an office in Kazakhstan at the Digital Bridge 2026 forum in Astana, citing qualified engineers, government support, and the Higgsfield project as an example of AI industry development in the country, the investor reported. Parliament ratified an intergovernmental agreement with Qatar on cooperation in combating crime, signed in October 2024 in Doha: the parties will be able to exchange operational data and check information on wanted persons even before a criminal case is initiated; Kazakhstan has similar agreements with 23 countries, kapital.kz writes.
• AI. Freedom Holding Corp. is developing an AI agent for its super app that will select investments, insurance, tours, flights, and visas for clients, CEO Timur Turlov said, Finteqstan reports. According to Turlov, a fully functional agent will take about a year to develop, although basic versions can be built in a day; the company is also preparing another product this year, details of which have not yet been disclosed. In September, S&P changed the outlook on Freedom Bank to positive, and Moody’s assigned the first insurance ratings to Freedom Insurance and Freedom Life.

🇺🇿 Uzbekistan

• Regulation. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Department for Combating Economic Crimes under the Prosecutor General’s Office updated internal control rules for crypto-asset market participants: requirements for customer verification, sending suspicious transaction reports, and monitoring control effectiveness in accordance with FATF standards were clarified; the changes took effect on September 28, Finteqstan wrote. The Russian President signed a decree banning individuals from exporting more than 1 million cash rubles from the country, and legal entities and individual entrepreneurs in any amount, to Uzbekistan and other CIS and EAEU countries, with an exception for individuals presenting bank statements through certain international airports, spot.uz writes.
• Banks and neobanks. The liquidation commission of Yangi Bank again put the bank’s 3,648 sq. m building in Tashkent up for auction at a reduced price of 120 billion soums—43.3 billion soums below the summer starting price; applications are accepted until October 5, spot.uz reports. ANORBANK added a car loan application via Android, parking payment, and saving frequent utility payments to its app, and launched the Murabbiy deposit for educators at 22% annually for three months, the bank announced. Uzpromstroybank passed a certification audit for compliance with the PCI DSS standard regarding cardholder data protection, the bank reported.
• Payments. A section was launched in test mode on the my.gov.uz portal where users can check active bank and virtual cards issued in their name in the country’s commercial banks, Finteqstan wrote. At a dialogue with exporters on September 29, businesses proposed reducing the 1% commission for cash deposits via online ATMs: when depositing 200 million soums, banks charge 2 million soums; Central Bank Deputy Chairman Abror Mirzo Olimov allowed for tariff optimization but warned that making the service free would likely be impossible, spot.uz writes.
• Deals. Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International is exploring acquisition opportunities in Central Asia, viewing the region as a growth area; RBI CEO Johann Strobl will present an updated strategy in the coming weeks, though there are no negotiations with specific targets yet. In Uzbekistan, the bank has participated in the capital market sandbox as a foreign nominal holder since December 2025; in Kazakhstan, it operates through a small leasing business, spot.uz writes citing Bloomberg.

🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan

• Regulation and supervision. The National Bank suspended the licenses of two exchange bureaus for violating legal requirements: Lex Finance LLC from September 30 to October 4, and Alinur KG LLC from October 1 to 3, the regulator reported. The Issyk-Kul regional department of the National Bank fined a credit union 55,000 soms for violating the regulator’s regulations, the regulator announced. According to the regulator, fines of 17,500 soms each were imposed on four citizens for unlicensed exchange operations in Bishkek, the National Bank's website states. The Cabinet of Ministers approved a new procedure for state registration of share issues on September 28, the financial regulator reported.
• Payments. Eldik Bank launched Apple Pay support for mobile payments on September 28, the bank announced.
• Financial literacy. Regional departments of the National Bank held field seminars in the Jalal-Abad, Naryn, and Issyk-Kul regions for schoolchildren, students, and socially vulnerable groups: they discussed fraudulent schemes, the risks of being a money mule, and the benefits of QR code payments, the regulator reported.

🇹🇯 Tajikistan

• Banks. Humo Bank warned Russian clients about the termination of card services starting October 1 if they do not undergo biometric identification at a bank office by September 30; those who confirm their identity in Tajikistan will receive a new card valid for no more than a year. Since September 17, the bank also banned opening new Sarchashma deposits in Russian rubles, although other program conditions remained unchanged, Finteqstan wrote.

Regulators of the Week

The National Bank of Kazakhstan updated the register of significant payment service providers: on September 27, the records of Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan JSC and the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan were changed, and Bank CenterCredit JSC was added; in the electronic money systems register, Tarlan Payments was renamed Cashello.kz with partners Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan JSC, Alatau City Bank JSC, and PayDala LLP, according to the regulator's register. On September 28, the National Bank held a seminar for payment organizations on changes in regulatory and supervisory policy, the regulator reported. The National Bank of Tajikistan met with SWIFT representatives on the sidelines of Sibos 2026 on September 28, the NBT announced. The Uzbek Republican Currency Exchange announced a tender on September 30 to place temporarily free funds in commercial bank deposits, the exchange reported.

On the Radar

• October 4–5, 2026: Deadlines expire for Kyrgyz and Uzbek stories—applications for the Yangi Bank building auction are accepted until October 5, and the Lex Finance exchange bureau license is suspended through October 4.
• October 23, 2026: The National Bank of Kazakhstan will make a base rate decision following the September cut to 16.25%, after which banks lowered tenge deposit rates below 20%.
• November 1, 2026: The Central Bank of Uzbekistan begins requiring Face ID biometric identification when opening bank cards for pensioners.
• January 1, 2027: Voluntary social tax payments for unemployed relatives start in Uzbekistan, and citizens gain the ability to transfer pensions to cash via public service centers.
• April 2027: Pensions in Uzbekistan can be received in a digital wallet within a bank app, and from April 1, banks will transition to distributing payments through unified accounts.
• Q4 2026: KASE plans to add the conversion of traditional financial instruments into digital financial assets and payment agent services for their issuers.