Development of cashless economy and programs to support small and medium-sized businesses were discussed at Astana Finance Days

AIFC’s Fintech Hub together with Visa, the world leader in digital payments and innovative payment solutions, held two panel sessions on “Accelerating the development of cashless economy in Central Asia” and “Supporting small and medium business – in the focus of development of Central Asia” topics within the “Astana Finance Days 2021” international conference. The sessions were attended by the top managers of banks of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as by representatives of business community and experts. 

Cashless payments have shown growth in all Central Asian countries for the past two years . Kazakhstan is among the countries actively developing cashless economy. The volume of cashless transactions in the first quarter of 2021 increased by 2.2 times and reached 12.5 trillion tenge. Many factors have contributed to this growth, including regulatory policy, educational and incentive programs for consumers, the active implementation of innovative payment technologies including contactless mobile and QR payments, the expansion of the acceptance network and new cashless payment acceptance solutions for merchants such as Visa Tap to Phone. Further digitalization was also spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, which primarily stimulated the development of contactless payments, e-commerce, P2P payments and digital issuance. The development of cashless payments was also influenced by the deployment of new fintech solutions that make financial services as accessible as possible. 

The panel participants noted that digitalization of trade, transport, and government structures is already having a positive impact on the economy and business. Consumers are increasingly choosing convenient ways of payment – Apple Pay and Google Pay, QR codes, card-to-card and account-to-account transfers. According to Visa, 8 out of 10 transactions are already conducted using contactless payment instruments, and according to the AFK report, in Q1 2021 the share of cashless payments became predominant for the first time in all regions of the country. 

“The past year was a year of socio-economic upheavals that affected many areas. In the face of uncertainty our goal was to maintain the balance of the payment ecosystem by enabling smooth, secure and reliable payments for all its participants, to help businesses adapt to the COVID-19 and post-COVID reality and facilitate their further recovery and digital transformation. Not only we continued to implement payment innovations such as Pays solutions powered by Visa Token Service to drive mobile payments, Visa Tap to Phone to expand contactless card acceptance network, launched a number of solutions in partnership with fintech players, but also focused our efforts on initiatives aimed to help micro, small and medium-sized businesses through #WhereYouShopMatters and She’s Next. Empowered by Visa platforms,” said Cristina Doros, Vice-president, Country Manager for Central Asia and Azerbaijan, Visa. 

“AIFC is a financial hub for all the countries of Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Eurasian Economic Union, and given the high potential of the region, Astana Finance Days has become a platform for dialogue and experience exchange for different countries. We have many common goals with Visa in the market – to support and develop innovations, promote financial and other technologies, entrepreneurship and e-commerce, thus accelerating innovative development of Kazakhstan and the region. We are always happy to see Visa – our strategic partner – on the platform of Astana Finance Days and to implement major national and international projects with it,” noted Kairat Kaliyev, Deputy Chairman of the AIFC Management Board. 

Significant changes are also taking place in the SME segment – globally 82% of SMEs have changed the way they run business through digital transformation, such as selling and promoting goods and services online and accepting contactless payments. New technologies are actively being introduced for SMEs, in particular Kazakhstan has become a global leader in the deployment of Visa Tap to Phone technology, which turns a smartphone into a payment terminal. 

Participants of the “SME support – in the focus of development of Central Asia” panel session discussed the state and prospects of SMEs in the region, the issues of digitalization of micro, small and medium businesses, the development of e-commerce, new financial products and services for entrepreneurs. Special attention was paid to the discussion of the current situation, challenges and prospects of women entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, as well as business support programs. 

About Visa 

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network – enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit  About Visa, visa.com/blog and @VisaNews, usa.visa.com/about-visa  www.facebook.com/VisaKazakhstan, www.visa.com.kz