Findings from Kazakhstan: What Astana Finance Days and the Central Asia Fintech Summit Reveal About Banking in Central Asia

• Central Asia is becoming a market that international investors and businesses actively assess, rather than a peripheral one.
• Financial groups managing more than $26 trillion in assets attended Astana Finance Days, looking for places to deploy capital.
• Tokenization is moving from concept to practical use, with the biggest impact expected on how financial products are distributed.
• Differing licenses, rules and infrastructure across Central Asian markets are the main obstacle to cross-border financial services.
• Cash accounts for about 12% of consumer payments in Kazakhstan, according to the 2026 Fintech in Kazakhstan study presented at the Central Asia Fintech Summit.
• In Kazakhstan, traditional banks, not startups, are leading the shift to digital financial services.

The message we heard most often across both events was simple: Central Asia should no longer be treated as a peripheral market. The ambition of local institutions, the pace of development and the region’s growing international connections all point the same way.

The AIFC is a big part of that story. It is an effort to build a financial and business environment in the region that international firms recognize and trust. It also left us with a question we keep coming back to: how should technology and professional services providers adapt for clients whose business increasingly crosses borders and jurisdictions?

Day one of Astana Finance Days, held under the theme Delivering Impact. Capital in Action., brought together financial groups managing more than $26 trillion in assets. The range of the agenda caught our attention. In a single day, BlackRock explained why investors have grown more cautious, geologists pitched 23 mining projects, and financiers debated how much power the next wave of AI will need.

Kazakhstan’s goal was clear throughout: show global investors where their money can work in Central Asia. Other sessions covered sovereign and institutional capital, financial infrastructure, investor protection, sustainable finance, financing for real-sector projects, creative industries as an emerging asset class, and Central Asia’s first exchange-based carbon credit trading.

One of our favorite sessions of the week explained tokenization through a concert. Alexander Kruglov of Wallet in Telegram and The Open Platform pointed out that six to eight intermediaries can sit between a musician and the person in the audience today, including managers, promoters, ticketing services and venues. With tokenization, an artist could issue digital tokens in advance, use demand to decide which city to play in, and let token holders resell their right to attend.

Seh Huan Kiat of Phillip Securities then brought the idea back to financial markets with two points:

• Tokenization creates a new way to distribute financial products and makes assets tradable that previously were not.
• Because tokens are programmable, financial services can be used beyond a single ecosystem, which changes traditional distribution chains.

For us, the takeaway is less about tokens and more about distribution. If products can reach customers through new channels, the systems that issue, record and monitor those products have to keep pace.

One of the most useful conversations brought regulators and market participants from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Georgia to one table, along with international financial organizations and development institutions. Everyone agreed on the problem. National markets are small, and differing licenses, rules and infrastructure make it hard for investors and financial institutions to operate across several countries at once.

The discussion focused on regulatory cooperation, information exchange and simpler cross-border financial services. From where we sit, progress on any of these raises the bar for compliance. Institutions working across borders need AML and transaction monitoring controls that can handle multiple rule sets and real-time payment flows.

In Almaty, the Central Asia Fintech Summit gave us a closer look at domestic banking. According to the 2026 Fintech in Kazakhstan study presented at the summit, cash makes up only about 12% of consumer payment value in Kazakhstan. That is close to the US (11%) and the UK (10%), and lower than Brazil (17%).

What struck us most was who is driving that shift. In Kazakhstan, traditional banks, not startups, are holding the ground. Regulators envision a model where banks focus on core areas and fintechs bring speed to the segments banks have not reached. The banks, however, are not ready to give up those opportunities.

That sets Kazakhstan apart from the UK, where challenger banks have spent a decade taking share from incumbents. Kazakhstan’s banks are moving quickly to stay ahead. The open question, and one we will be watching, is how much room regulators will give fintechs to compete.

Put together, these findings point to one conclusion: in Central Asia, the infrastructure underneath will decide who moves fastest.

• Incumbent banks that want to keep their lead need core systems that let them launch and change products quickly.
• Cross-border ambitions depend on compliance infrastructure, including real-time AML and transaction monitoring, that can work across different regulatory regimes.
• As banks and fintechs compete and collaborate at the same time, strong digital channels become a baseline requirement.

This is the work we do every day at Natech Banking Solutions: core banking transformation, real-time AML and transaction monitoring, and digital banking platforms. We are also the team behind Snappi, Greece’s first ECB-licensed neobank, so we run a live business on the same technology we deliver to our clients. As Central Asian markets open up, we will be following the region closely.

The real highlight for us was the people. The professionals we met from banks, clearing institutions, investment firms and fintechs were warm, open and sharp. Thank you to everyone who made time to sit down with our team.

What is Astana Finance Days?
Astana Finance Days is a financial conference hosted by the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) in Astana, Kazakhstan. The 2026 edition took place on September 9-10 under the theme Delivering Impact. Capital in Action.

What share of consumer payments in Kazakhstan is made in cash?
According to the 2026 Fintech in Kazakhstan study, presented at the Central Asia Fintech Summit, cash makes up about 12% of consumer payment value in Kazakhstan, compared with 11% in the US, 10% in the UK and 17% in Brazil.

Are banks or fintechs leading digital finance in Kazakhstan?
Traditional banks are leading. While regulators see a role for fintechs in segments banks have not reached, Kazakhstan’s banks are moving quickly to keep those opportunities for themselves.

What is the main barrier to cross-border financial services in Central Asia?
Fragmentation. Small national markets and differing licenses, rules and infrastructure make it hard to operate across several countries. Regulators from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Georgia are discussing regulatory cooperation and information exchange to address it.

How will tokenization affect financial services?
Speakers at Astana Finance Days 2026 highlighted two effects: new ways to distribute financial products, including assets that were not tradable before, and programmable services that work beyond a single ecosystem.

Planning a core banking, AML or digital banking project in Central Asia? We’d be glad to hear about it. Reach our team at info@natechbanking.com or contact us here.