Today, during a press conference in the Government of Kazakhstan, Chief Digital Officer of the Astana International Financial Center Assel Zhiyenbayeva spoke about the development of digital technologies in the Kazakhstani stock market.

Assel Zhiyenbayeva said that the advancement of financial technologies and the creation of an ecosystem that allows them to develop are in line with one of the five strategic directions for the development of AIFC.

She noted that the fintech is most often associated with start-ups, which begin their activities in areas where, traditionally, banks and other financial institutions dominate.

At present, the market for technological solutions for the financial sector is in a stage of very dynamic development. The global amount of investments in the financial industry is today at about $25 billion a year - such estimates are provided by the largest consulting companies.

Over the past year, the number of financial companies has grown to 8 000, the number of crypto-currencies to 800 types and over 110 launched crypto-markets. This rapid growth is becoming a platform for rapid changes. In this regard, AIFC is aimed at promoting new fintech solutions and creating a favorable ecosystem which would enable them to develop.

In the AIFC, as part of the development of fintech in Kazakhstan, three main tasks have been identified: to regulate the market of crypto-currencies, to create a regulatory ‘sandbox’ for the development, testing and maintenance of new technologies in the financial sector and the creation of conditions for maintaining financial start-ups in Kazakhstan.

According to her, AIFC should become a single point of gathering innovative solutions, new ideas around the world and a platform for cooperation between world companies in the development of financial technologies. For the stimulation of ideas and the development of new innovative solutions for Fintech, it is planned to create and launch a hub based on the AIFC with an accelerated program for profile start-ups.

Fintech-hub of the AIFC is aimed at studying and developing seven technological areas: next-generation payment systems, online lending (P2P platforms), blockchain and crypto-currency, security and biometric identification, robo-advising, increasing financial accessibility and artificial intelligence.

Also, the participants of the AIFC FinTech Hub will be able to register and become participants of the ‘sandbox’ - a special regulatory regime (Fintech Regulatory Sandbox) starting from January 1, 2018.

A specialized regulatory ‘sandbox’ will allow financial companies and other financial institutions to test their innovative products and solutions in the financial sector.

At the moment, companies from Russia, Great Britain, USA, Thailand, Hong Kong, China and Belgium showed interest in the ‘sandbox’.

For reference:

Financial Technology or FinTech is an industry consisting of companies using technologies and innovations to compete with traditional financial institutions represented by banks and intermediaries in the financial services market.