Kazakhstanis are withdrawing cash from ATMs less often

In the first quarter of 2026, cashless payments continued to grow in Kazakhstan, while cash withdrawals from ATMs declined. According to a review by the Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan (AFK), the market showed a decline in cash circulation for the first time, both in relative and absolute terms.

From January to March 2026, Kazakhstanis made 3.2 billion cashless transactions. In the same period of 2025, the figure stood at 3 billion operations. The increase was 6.1%.

In monetary terms, the volume of cashless payments rose from ₸40.35 trillion to ₸42.35 trillion, or by 5%.

The share of cashless transactions across the country reached 87.9%. A year earlier, it was 87.1%. According to AFK, this points to the continued displacement of cash circulation and the strengthening of digital payment instruments.

At the same time, the average value of one cashless transaction fell by 1.2% to ₸13,100.

The number of cash withdrawal operations through ATMs fell to 52 million in the first quarter. A year earlier, there were 54 million such operations. The decline was 3.6%.

The amount of withdrawn cash also decreased. From January to March, Kazakhstanis withdrew ₸5.83 trillion through ATMs, compared with ₸5.96 trillion in the same period of 2025. The decline was 2.2%.

AFK said the decrease in cash circulation may be linked to lower demand for cash amid the fiscalization of business income and measures to reduce the shadow economy.

Most cashless payments still take place online.

In the first quarter of 2026, the transaction structure was as follows:

• 78.6% — online payments;
• 10.7% — QR payments;
• 10.6% — payments through POS terminals.

At the same time, growth in cashless payments is slowing. According to AFK, the volume of such operations rose by 5% year-on-year in the first quarter. In the same period of 2025, growth was 22.4%.

The association explains this not by weaker demand for cashless payments, but by the gradual saturation of the market after several years of rapid digitalization of the payment system. Another factor was weaker economic activity: GDP growth slowed to 3% from 5.6% a year earlier.

The «digital gap» between the largest cities and other regions continues to narrow. By the end of the first quarter, it had fallen to 18.2 percentage points.

AFK notes that this reflects the continued spread of digital financial services beyond the most developed cities.

The number of cards issued by local payment systems rose to 28.2 million, up 4.2%.

The number of cards issued by international payment systems reached 56.9 million, up 3.8%.

According to AFK, this trend reflects the gradual strengthening of domestic payment solutions and a decline in the market’s dependence on international infrastructure.

AFK believes that the high penetration of cashless payments, the decline in cash circulation and the slowdown in new payment card issuance may indicate that the market is approaching saturation.

Future growth potential is increasingly shifting to regions where the historical use of digital financial tools has been lower.

At the same time, the market itself is undergoing structural change. The rising share of POS and QR payments shows that transaction activity is gradually shifting toward offline infrastructure. Competition among market participants is increasingly focused on ecosystems, user experience, loyalty programs and the frequency of digital service use.

Starting July 19, all banks in Kazakhstan must connect to the unified QR system. This will allow customers to pay for purchases through different banking apps using QR codes at POS terminals of other banks.

The system is expected to give customers of smaller banks access to the terminal networks of major players. Today, Kaspi Bank and Halyk Bank terminals are available in most retail outlets across the country.