Kazakhstan’s commercial banks are increasingly offering attractive super-applications with convenient functions that go beyond traditional financial services for the country’s 21 million citizens With the help of a bank application, Kazakhstan’s citizens buy necessary goods, find required specialists, and even receive government services.
For security purposes, super-applications have switched to identifying the personal data and biometric imprints of citizens to speed up the process of entering the application and confirming the approval of operations. But there is a gap between the rapid development of digital ecosystems and the existing legislative regulation, raising questions regarding the level of protection of consumers’ rights.
The Power of One Button
In October 2023, Aidos Edil, a photographer in Astana, received an unofficial call from a representative of Kaspi, Kazakhstan’s dominant fintech giant. The demand was simple: delete a satirical 9-second TikTok video generated using AI that mocked the bank’s lending practices and mentioned its CEO, Mikhail Lomtadze. When Aidos refused, his Kaspi account was abruptly blocked without explanation.
For Edil, the consequences were immediate and paralyzing. In a country where Kaspi serves as the “operating system” for daily life – integrating banking, e-commerce, and government services – a blocked account means total exclusion from the modern economy.
