Profits at microfinance organizations (MFOs) in Kazakhstan fell by nearly half in 2025, while the volume of loans overdue by more than 30 days rose by more than a quarter.
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The sector has grown to a scale where, if combined into a single entity, Kazakhstan’s 215 MFOs would rank 11th among the country’s banks by assets. Total assets reached about 1.7 trillion tenge (roughly $3.5 billion) at the start of 2026 — placing the sector between Freedom Bank (2.6 trillion tenge) and Altyn Bank (1.3 trillion tenge).
Number of MFOs edges higher
At the beginning of 2025, Kazakhstan had 214 MFOs; by year-end, the number had risen to 215. According to the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM), 17 new firms entered the market, while 18 lost their licenses. Two major players — KMF and BNK — transitioned into banks.
Excluding those two institutions, total MFO assets increased by 319 billion tenge, or 23.5%, reaching 1.7 trillion tenge, according to Kursiv Research calculations based on data from the National Bank of Kazakhstan.
Auto lenders dominate top rankings
Following KMF’s exit, Toyota Financial Services became the largest MFO in Kazakhstan, with 321 billion tenge (approximately $670 million) in assets at the start of 2026.
Notably, three of the four largest MFOs focus on auto lending: Toyota Financial Services (ultimately controlled by Toyota Motor Corporation), MyCar Finance, linked to businessman Nurlan Smagulov, and Shinhan Finance. Together, these three firms account for 38.5% of total sector assets.
Market concentration remains high
The Kursiv Research ranking includes 18 MFOs with assets exceeding 10 billion tenge as of early 2026. These firms control 83.7% of total sector assets and 83.1% of the overall loan portfolio.
Total lending by MFOs (excluding KMF and BNK) grew by 254 billion tenge, or 20.3%, over the year. However, the regulator noted that the exit of two large «traditional» MFOs — those focused on business lending — has reduced financing available to the real economy.
Loan quality deteriorates
The volume of loans overdue by more than 30 days (NPL 30+) rose by 46 billion tenge, or 26.4%, to 221 billion tenge. These loans accounted for 14.7% of the sector’s total portfolio at the start of 2026.
Among major players, Toyota Financial Services reported the strongest asset quality, with an NPL 30+ ratio of 3.4%. In contrast, significantly higher levels were recorded at Solva (23.1%), Lending and Finance Technologies (32.1%), and Robocash (47.2%).
The weakest performance was seen at Fintech Finance, which operates under the MoneyMan brand, where the NPL 30+ ratio reached 74.7%. Notably, only 5.9% of its portfolio was overdue by more than 90 days, while the bulk of problematic loans fell into the 30-60 day (28.7%) and 60-90 day (40.1%) delinquency brackets.
Regulator steps up oversight
The regulator said each MFO has an individual plan to address problem consumer loans, with implementation monitored monthly. In 2025, 722,000 borrowers with total debts of 399 billion tenge were granted restructured repayment terms — an average of about 552,000 tenge per borrower. Additionally, debts for 34,000 borrowers totaling 2.2 billion tenge were fully written off, averaging about 65,000 tenge per borrower.
