Halyk Bank
There are few Asiamoney awards categories for Kazakhstan that Halyk Bank doesn’t have a reasonable claim to this year. Its investment and corporate banking franchises are hard to beat, while its role in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and its prowess in disrupting its own business model deserve a shoutout.
But it is the ways in which the bank is seamlessly fusing its investment and corporate banking businesses with cutting-edge digital platforms and strong commitments to environmental, social and governance that make for a uniquely competitive proposition – and land Halyk with a slew of Asiamoney awards in 2022.
This model drove something of a client flight-to-quality – and toward Halyk, which is led by chief executive Umut Shayakhmetova – over the last year.
In 2021, the number of active retail clients at Halyk jumped 7.1% to nine million, out of a population of 19 million people. It helps that the bank’s digital channels continue to gain traction. In 2021, the number of active users jumped to eight million from 6.2