ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 9. The number of UnionPay cards in circulation in Kazakhstan as of February 1, 2026, amounted to 789,400 cards, a 38.27% decrease compared to the 1.28 million cards recorded a year earlier.

Data obtained by Trend from the National Bank of Kazakhstan shows that the decline was almost entirely driven by debit cards, which fell to 789,300 from 1.27 million in February 2025. In contrast, UnionPay credit cards remained stable at a very low volume of 20 units. The category of debit cards with credit limits and prepaid cards dropped to zero.

Meanwhile, the total number of payment cards in circulation in Kazakhstan reached 85.06 million as of February 1, 2026, a 1.75% increase from 83.6 million on the same date in 2025.

As of February 1, 2026, payment cards were issued by 17 banks and JSC KazPost. These institutions issue cards from international systems such as VISA, MasterCard, and others, as well as local system cards under Kaspi.kz.