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Cashless payments now account for 88% of the value of consumer payments in Kazakhstan, marketplaces handle 92% of online goods sales, and 75% of banks use AI (kapital.kz). According to the Fintech in Kazakhstan 2026 study, these changes are placing greater demands on payment infrastructure and reshaping banking processes.
How cashless payments have changed
Cashless payments accounted for 67% of the total value of consumer payments in 2019, rising to 88% in 2026. Over that period, cash fell from a third of the total value to 12%.
QR codes have also become more prominent: their share of cashless transactions doubled from 14% to 28% in two years. This is one of the shifts in how cashless payments in Kazakhstan work.
Most of the study’s figures are current as of July 2026. For the market map, companies completed questionnaires in July and August, after which researchers checked their responses against registers.
How marketplaces have made payments more complex
E-commerce’s share of retail sales rose from 3.7% in 2019 to 17.1% in 2025. That means roughly one in every six tenge spent in retail is spent online. Marketplaces account for 92% of e-commerce goods sales.
On these platforms, a buyer’s payment is split between several parties: the seller, the marketplace and the delivery service. When a purchase is paid for in instalments, a bank joins the chain.
This means payment infrastructure for e-commerce must split a single amount between recipients, settle payments on time and account for refunds.
Where banks use AI
According to the study, 75% of Kazakhstan’s banks use artificial intelligence to assess borrowers, combat fraud and support marketing.
A National Bank survey of 95 financial market participants also showed a shift in AI adoption priorities. In 2025, operations’ share of AI applications rose from 11% to 21%, while software development rose from zero to 18%. Customer support dropped to fifth place at 14%.
What this means for businesses
A representative of Tarlan Payments, which took part in the study, sees payment speed, reliability and cost as the focus of the next phase of competition. In his view, banks and fintech companies will need to pay more attention to fees, support and ease of payment.
He suggests adding the share of failed transactions and the average time it takes sellers to receive their money to the next study. He says market participants currently see individual parts of the payment chain, but there is no common methodology for measuring its quality.
