Kazakhstani Nurbank joins new Russian money transfer system
Kazakhstani Nurbank has announced its cooperation with the new Russian money transfer system Kwikpay, according to a statement issued by the bank. The service offers fee-free bi-currency transfers, allowing funds to be sent in one currency and received in another. The partnership comes amidst challenges faced by Zolotaya Korona, a Russian payment system widely used in Kazakhstan.
Nurbank has become the first Kazakhstani credit institution to connect to Kwikpay. The system has recently been expanding its presence in other countries and now enables money transfers to Armenia, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Uzbekistan, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan through intermediaries.
According to the Russian register of companies, Kwikpay was registered in January 2019. However, the system’s website only became active in August 2023, according to the Russian media agency RBC. The company’s founder is Irina Khellmikh, and the CEO is Yuri Mindrin. In August 2023, RBC reported that Mindrin was also CEO of two other companies and a co-owner of Deworks, a software development firm. At that time, Khellmikh held 100% ownership of Trubnaya SIV, the operating company for Kwikpay, and Investment Development Bolsheokhtinsky, a company in the real estate rental and management sector.
Discontinuation of Zolotaya Korona support by Kazakhstani banks
In August 2024, several major Kazakhstani banks ceased cooperation with the Zolotaya Korona money transfer system after its developer, NSCA Payment Center, controlled by the Centre of Financial Technologies Group was hit by U.S. sanctions.
Although Kazakhstani Halyk Bank, Bank RBK and Eurasian Bank suspended their cooperation with Zolotaya Korona, the service’s website still lists Jusan Bank, Nurbank, Halyk Bank, Bereke Bank, Eurasian Bank, ForteBank, CenterCredit and Bank RBK as institutions that process transfers via the Russian money transfer system.
Nurbank was founded in 1992 in Atyrau. Since 2002, it has been headquartered in Almaty. In 2008, Nurali Aliyev, the grandson of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, was appointed as the first deputy chairman of the bank’s board and later elected chairman of the board of directors. During that period, Aliyev’s mother, former Senate Deputy Dariga Nazarbayeva, also served as a member of the board.
As of Oct. 1, 2024, JP Finance Group, controlled by businessman Eldar Sarsenov, was the largest shareholder in the bank (86.4%). The remaining 5.87% of Nurbank’s shares are owned by Zhannat Nurshaikhova, the daughter of Kazakhstani writer Azilkhan Nurshaikhov through JA Collection Company.
In 2023, approximately $2.60 billion was transferred through international money transfer systems in Kazakhstan, with 72% of the total amount attributed to foreign remittances. Zolotaya Korona accounted for about 80% of these money transfers. The average value of a single international transfer from Kazakhstan was approximately $728.27.
