OREANDA-NEWS. February 12, 2010. Kazkommertsbank, one of the largest banks in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, announced that the number of banking cards issued by Kazkommertsbank has increased by 7.13% in 2009 to 1,141,000 banking cards as at 1 January 2010. The number of customers holding banking cards also increased by 7.4% in 2009 to 1,034,000 people, reported the press-centre of Kazkommertsbank.

“The increase in the number of banking cards in 2009 demonstrates their usefulness and the high potential of the banking cards market in Kazakhstan”, - said Mr. Ermek Shamuratov, Managing Director of Kazkommertsbank.

The number of cashless settlements also increased by 10.7% in 2009, while cash withdrawal operations increased by 5.2%.

The number of the Bank’s POS terminals increased from 9,042 in 2008 to 10,661 as at 1 January 2010. The number of ATMs increased by 12% in 2009 to 1,020 ATMs as at 1 January 2010, including 170 cash-in ATMs.

Kazkommertsbank continues to actively promote Internet acquiring services. The Bank is the only bank in Kazakhstan to provide services certified by international payment systems, such as Visa 3D Secure (Verified by Visa) and SecureCode MasterCard. Over 150 partners of the Bank provide their clients, who are holders of a banking card, with the possibility of purchasing over the Internet.

The number of registered users of the Homebank.kz financial portal increased by 31% in 2009 to 232,000 people. The SMS banking service is also becoming more popular as the number of clients registered for the service increased by 64,000 people in 2009 to 80,000 as at 1 January 2010.

The Bank has also actively developed distant service channels, such as Telebanking, WAP-banking, GSM-banking and self-service kiosks.