QR payments continue to gain popularity in Kazakhstan. Over three years, their share has nearly quadrupled, and in terms of transaction volume, they have outpaced traditional POS terminals for the second year in a row, according to Finprom. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Non-cash payments have become the main method of settlement in Kazakhstan. In January-May 2026, their volume reached 73.5 trillion tenge – 159 times more than in the same period of 2016, when Kazakhs paid only 462.1 billion tenge for goods and services by card.
At the same time, market growth rates are gradually slowing. In January-May 2020, the volume of non-cash payments increased 2.6 times year-on-year, but over the past year, growth was only 3.9%.
Most users have already abandoned cash in favor of bank cards and mobile payments. In 2016, the share of non-cash transactions was only 12.5%, but by the end of January-May 2026, it reached 87.6%. The remaining 12.4% were cash withdrawal transactions.
The largest volume of non-cash payments traditionally comes from the country's largest cities.
Almaty remains the leader, with transactions worth 37.2 trillion tenge over five months – more than half of the national total.
It is followed by Astana with 6.6 trillion tenge and Shymkent with 4.6 trillion tenge. The top five also include Turkistan Region (2.5 trillion tenge), Almaty Region (2.4 trillion tenge), and Karaganda Region (2.3 trillion tenge).
In terms of the share of non-cash transactions in total card turnover, Almaty Region leads with 92.3%, followed by Almaty (91.2%) and Turkistan Region (91%). In Astana, the share of non-cash payments was 86.2%, and in Shymkent, 84%.
The lowest rates were recorded in North Kazakhstan Region (74%), Pavlodar Region (78.3%), Kostanay Region (78.5%), and East Kazakhstan Region (78.8%). However, even there, more than three-quarters of all card transactions are cashless.
The fastest-growing market segment remains QR code payments. In January-May 2023, their volume was 1.5 trillion tenge; in 2024, it rose to 5.8 trillion tenge; in 2025, to 7.2 trillion tenge; and in the first five months of 2026, it reached about 8 trillion tenge.
Over the same period, the share of QR payments increased from 2.8% to 10.8% of total card turnover.
In terms of transaction volume, QR has outpaced POS terminals for the second year in a row. In January-May 2026, about 7.5 trillion tenge passed through terminals, representing 10.2% of the market. A year earlier, these figures were 6.8 trillion tenge and 9.7%, respectively.
At the same time, the main method of non-cash payment remains internet and mobile banking apps. About 58.4 trillion tenge, or 78.9% of total card turnover, was processed through them over five months. However, their share is gradually declining.
The next stage of market development should be the launch of a unified QR. The National Bank, together with the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market, agreed with banks on a phased scaling of the service from July 7. The full launch of the system is scheduled for July 19.
After the introduction of the unified QR, buyers will be able to pay for goods through any bank's app, regardless of which bank's QR code is installed at the seller. This should make non-cash payments more convenient for both customers and businesses.