In late July 2026, the European Union imposed sanctions on the Zolotaya Korona money transfer system. Until then, the service controlled the vast majority of cross-border transactions in Kazakhstan. Now, the financial sector must quickly distribute this volume among the remaining players.
According to National Bank data for the first half of the year, 251.6 billion tenge left Kazakhstan abroad through Zolotaya Korona. This accounts for 83% of all outbound transfers. The service’s share in the inbound flow was lower, but the system still held the top spot in the market at 45%, or 44 billion tenge.
Following the block on the largest channel, customers and banks have to switch to alternative systems. The closest competitors currently hold significantly smaller shares. Western Union accounted for 11.4% of outbound and 33.7% of inbound transfers in the first half of the year. MoneyGram controlled 1.9% of outbound and 18.2% of inbound transactions. The UPT system provided another 1% of outbound traffic.
The transition to new platforms changes the usual balance of power. International systems traditionally have a different fee structure, which could affect the cost of services for end users.
The loss of the dominant player creates an infrastructure challenge for the Central Asian market. Kazakhstan’s payment systems and banks will have to urgently scale the capacity of the remaining channels, otherwise the market may face rising fees and delays in sending money.
Since the sanctions took effect in late July, the statistics for that month will not yet reflect the full changes. The August reports will show the first results of the market redistribution. The National Bank of Kazakhstan will publish this data in late September, revealing which competitors adapted fastest to the new conditions.