The number of fraudulent loans in Kazakhstan dropped from 8,700 in 2024 to 1,900 in 2026. ARDFM Chairperson Madina Abylkassymova announced this at a meeting with banks and microfinance organizations, Kapital.kz reports.
According to the publication, the regulator intends to check exactly how financial organizations protect clients. The ARDFM plans to conduct an independent audit of bank anti-fraud systems to assess their real effectiveness in blocking suspicious transactions.
Credit bureaus are now connected to the National Bank’s anti-fraud center and transmit data on multiple loan applications in real time. Banks themselves have implemented session anti-fraud in their apps. Additional barriers include a cooling-off period, mandatory biometric identification, and an in-person requirement when obtaining a first loan.
Market cooling and complaints
Tighter rules for issuing unsecured loans affected overall market indicators. The annual growth rate of the loan portfolio nearly halved: from 14.6% in August 2025 to 7.5% in August 2026.
Debt settlement remains the main reason for citizen appeals. Over the first nine months of 2026, the ARDFM reviewed 144,300 complaints. Nearly half of them (48%) concern banks, a third (33%) involve microfinance organizations, and another 9% relate to collection agencies.
To automate dispute resolution, the regulator ordered all stages to be integrated on the FinKomek digital platform. The system will route applications to the creditor or financial ombudsman and monitor decision execution deadlines.