The decline was primarily driven by debit cards, which dropped to 13.71 million units from 14.52 million as of 1 March 2025.
Debit cards remain the most common, accounting for 81.5% of the total, while credit cards make up 15.5%. Debit cards with a credit limit and prepaid cards represent the remaining 3%.
The number of international system payment cards in circulation in Kazakhstan as of March 1, 2026, amounted to 56.85 million units.
The total number of payment cards in circulation in Kazakhstan reached 85 million units as of March 1, 2026.
In February 2026, transactions using payment cards issued by Kazakh banks reached 15.7 trillion tenge (approximately $33.4 billion), with a total of 1.1 billion transactions recorded.
The growth was primarily driven by debit cards, which rose to 38.63 million units from 35.4 million in the same period of 2025.
The Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) has launched trading in new currency instruments on its foreign exchange market.
