BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 22. Cross-border payments are an important area for further growth in Kazakhstan, Sanzhar Zhamalov, Mastercard's Country Manager for Kazakhstan and Central Asia, told Trend.
Zhamalov said that Kazakhstan has made significant progress in digital payments in recent years and is now one of the most highly digitalized markets in the region. The country's payments ecosystem is becoming increasingly sophisticated and interconnected year by year.
"We look at this transformation not only through transaction statistics. Over the past few years, Mastercard, together with its partners, has conducted a series of studies on the Kazakhstan market, covering digital payments and fintech, e-commerce, SMEs, artificial intelligence, tourism, and cybersecurity. In September this year, we also presented a study on Islamic banking in Central Asia. This kind of analysis helps us better understand how the economy is evolving and where new growth opportunities are emerging," the country manager said.
Zhamalov noted that e-commerce is one of the clearest examples. According to Mastercard's study of Kazakhstan's retail e-commerce market, published in September 2026, the market reached 4.92 trillion tenge ($10.92 billion) in 2025, with 363 million online purchases.
"Importantly, the number of transactions is growing significantly faster than the average transaction value, indicating that online shopping is increasingly becoming part of everyday life. We forecast that by 2030, the market could reach 11.1 trillion tenge ($24.6 billion), with the number of purchases approaching 1.4 billion," he said.
Mastercard sees the main areas for further growth in e-commerce and cross-border trade, the digitalization of small and medium-sized businesses, the development of new payment instruments, and greater interoperability between them.
"For a cardholder, it matters less which technological rails a payment runs on - whether it is a bank card, QR code, instant payment, digital wallet, or, potentially, tokenized money. What matters is that the payment is convenient, fast, and secure," the country manager said.
Zhamalov added that cross-border payments are another important area of growth. Kazakhstan is closely connected to Central Asian countries and other markets through economic ties and the movement of people. Moving money across borders should therefore become as simple and seamless as making a domestic payment.
"The next phase of development will also be shaped by AI and new forms of digital money. We believe different payment technologies will coexist, and Mastercard's role is to help connect them while supporting security, trust, convenience, and a seamless user experience," he said.
The US dollar equivalents are calculated by Trend at the exchange rate of the National Bank of Kazakhstan of 450.62 tenge per $1 as of October 15, 2026.
