Kazakhstan pilots digital tenge
The ceremony of launching the digital tenge with Binur Zhalenov, chairman of the National Payment Corporation, making the first purchase via card in the digital tenge at the 11th Congress of Financiers of Kazakhstan held in Almaty today, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
The National Bank of Kazakhstan piloted the digital tenge platform with the participation of second-tier banks and their clients. The platform enables bank clients to use the digital tenge by opening a digital account in the mobile app of the operating bank.
The National Bank first issued the digital tenge to the digital accounts of participating banks, which then issued the digital tenge to the accounts of their clients as part of the Congress.
The digital tenge combines the advantages cash and non-cash money can provide, opening up new opportunities for targeted social payments, increasing the efficiency of public purchases, optimizing transborder payments, and creating programmed payments. It’s expected that a three-phase implementation of the digital tenge will be completed by the end of 2025.
The digital tenge is the third form of the national currency in addition to cash and non-cash money. It opens up the potential of blockchain technology to create innovative financial services, ensures targeted and effective public spending as well as builds a bridge between traditional finance and the world of digital assets. Today’s launch of the digital tenge gave a start to the development of its ecosystem and Kazakhstanis could enjoy the first products based on the digital tenge in the nearest future, said Binur Zhalenov, chairman of the National Payment Corporation.
The participating banks together with international payment systems issued digital cards, allowing their holders to make payments and transfers with individuals and legal entities in the digital tenge in the usual mode thanks to the smooth integration with the existing payment infrastructure of the banks.
Piloted today, the full-fledged implementation of the digital tenge is expected to be completed by the end of 2025 by expanding its services, usage scenarios, and participants of the platform.