Kazakhstan is gearing up to establish its own national system for processing credit card payments, with the country’s regulatory agency reportedly in collaboration with commercial banks.
Till now, this was the domain of a few international banks.
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Reports emerged that the National Bank is currently engaged in developing such a system.
National Bank Governor Kairat Kelimbetov said: "This includes both clearing, that is, the channeling of all transactions through a Kazakhstani-based payment centre, and the establishment of a new processing centre for all the banks."
GALA Invest Consulting president Galina Shalgimbayeva said: "Considering today’s realities, we should have back-up payment options for our banking system."
Although few commercial banks remain sceptical of such a move as they say that it would take decades to develop such a system. They also added that competing with Visa and MasterCard could be tough.
