Finance
Kazakh Firm Kaspi.kz Opens Payment System to New Users to Compete With Central Bank
- Company’s banking application is widely used in Kazakhstan
- Central bank plans to roll out universal system soon
Kaspi is opening up in order to increase the share of transactions through its network so merchants will have less incentive to migrate to other lenders.
Photographer: Ruslan Pryanikov/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The biggest fintech company in Central Asia is opening its proprietary payment system to other banks’ customers to strengthen its position in the market before Kazakhstan’s central bank starts a platform of its own.
Kaspi.kz’s system, one of the most widely used payment methods at retailers and restaurants in the country, lets consumers pay quickly by scanning a QR code through an application on their phone. In September, the bank opened the platform to customers of Home Credit Bank and Altyn Bank, according to the lenders’ websites.