Almaty, 27 October. The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market has revoked the licences of seven microfinance organisations for systematic violations of the law and of consumers' rights: MFO№1, Vivus, Microfinance Systems, Umit Finance, MaxMoney, SurfKaz Finance and EL QAZYNA.
According to National Bank data, compiled by the NB Telegram channel, the largest of them, MFO№1, ranked 27th of Kazakhstan's 213 microfinance organisations by assets on 1 July 2026, with assets of 6.7 billion tenge and a loss of 1.4 billion. Vivus ranked 57th (2 billion tenge in assets), Microfinance Systems 66th (1.6 billion, with a loss of 107 million), Umit Finance 73rd (1.3 billion), MaxMoney 81st (1.2 billion), SurfKaz Finance 92nd (955 million) and EL QAZYNA 120th (553 million tenge). Together they held about 14 billion tenge in assets.
The organisations must, within 30 calendar days, re-register without the words "microfinance organisation" in their names or decide to reorganise or liquidate. Borrowers' obligations under existing contracts remain: the debts are not written off and must be repaid.
The agency's statement does not say what violations were found at each company.
What it means: The regulator has removed seven mid-sized lenders from the market in one decision; their customers keep paying under their contracts, but the companies can no longer issue new loans.
Who benefits: Borrowers in the market as a whole, as the regulator shows that licences are revoked for systematic violations of customers' rights. The remaining microfinance companies, which gain market share. For these companies' own borrowers nothing changes: existing contract terms stay in force.
Background: Microfinance organisations in Kazakhstan lend without a banking licence under a licence from the agency; the National Bank publishes data on their assets and capital every month.
