The days when domestic banks routinely posted record profits are over. Today, they are essentially competing to see which institution has suffered the least in the new operating environment. Kursiv Research examined how the income and expense structures of individual second-tier banks have changed to determine which business models are proving most adaptable.
The combined profits of Kazakhstan’s eight largest universal banks (based on Kursiv Research estimates) totaled 503 billion tenge ($1 billion) in the first quarter of 2026, down 18.9% year over year, or 117 billion tenge, from 620 billion tenge.
Financial results deteriorated due to higher minimum reserve requirements (MRR) and fiscal changes, including an increase in the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 25% on transactions unrelated to business lending, as well as the introduction of value-added tax (VAT) on bank commissions for certain services.
Among the eight banks under review (with Kaspi.kz holding, the parent company of Kaspi Bank, included as a ninth entity for comparison), Halyk Bank recorded the largest decline in profit in absolute terms, falling 40.2 billion tenge year over year. However, it was among the least affected in percentage terms, with profit declining 14.6%.
Halyk cites regulatory pressure
In its quarterly earnings release, Halyk Bank attributed the decline in profit to two factors: higher MRR requirements and tighter regulation of retail lending.
Kaspi Bank reported a 13.8% decline in profit, or 17.7 billion tenge, compared with the same period last year — the strongest performance among the eight largest banks.
Facing pressure from interbank integration
By July 19, second-tier banks are required to connect to the unified interbank QR payment system.
At a March meeting of the Digital Kazakhstan initiative, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev criticized major banks for delaying integration with the National Bank of Kazakhstan’s digital infrastructure, specifically the Interbank Mobile Payment System (IMPS), though he did not identify any institutions by name.
As of June 1, seven banks had connected to the unified QR system: Halyk Bank, Bank CenterCredit (BCC), Alatau City Bank, Freedom Bank, Bank RBK, Home Credit Bank, and Altyn Bank.
Kaspi’s participation in the project could eventually weigh on its commission income. Additionally, it remains unclear whether the bank will join the second IMPS service, which enables interbank transfers using phone numbers. The service is currently available to clients of 12 banks, and Kaspi remains the only major market participant that has not yet connected.
ForteBank affected by Home Credit acquisition
ForteBank ranked among the weakest performers, with profit declining 31.5% year over year.
The bank’s financial results were influenced by the consolidation of Home Credit Bank during the second half of 2025. Between September and December, ForteBank gradually increased its ownership stake in Home Credit from 27% to 100%.
Bereke Bank struggles to offset rising costs
Bereke Bank, which is owned by Qatar-based investors, reported a 40.5% year-over-year decline in profit, equivalent to 5.3 billion tenge.
Despite an 8.4% increase in operating expenses, or 2.0 billion tenge, the bank generated only modest growth in net interest income, which rose 5.1%, or 1.4 billion tenge. Profitability also weakened across other business segments.
Eurasian Bank posts steepest decline
Eurasian Bank recorded the sharpest profit decline among the country’s largest second-tier banks, with earnings falling by 50% year over year, a decrease of 7.8 billion tenge.
The bank’s results would have been even weaker had it not significantly reduced personnel expenses, which also fell by half — from 9.2 billion tenge in the first quarter of 2025 to 4.6 billion tenge in the first quarter of 2026.
It is difficult to imagine employee salaries being reduced to such an extent. A more plausible explanation is that substantial bonuses were paid to senior executives in the prior-year period.
However, this assumption cannot be verified through publicly available information. Eurasian Bank does not disclose related-party transaction data in its quarterly reports.
