A New Generation Bank Launches its Card Business with OpenWay

Bank of Astana, which operates in five regions of Kazakhstan, has announced the launch of its card business on OpenWay's WAY4 platform. OpenWay is a recognized leader in software for bankcard issuing and acquiring, payment processing, remote banking services and financial transaction routing.

  • New launch of the card business on WAY4 in Central Asia

  • Three months is a new record for in-house implementation

The joint OpenWay and Bank of Astana team was faced with the challenge of launching the bank's own processing centre in record time. This was due to the sharp growth in the bank's business. The team implemented the solution in just three months.

As part of the project, OpenWay provided the bank with a processing solution for issuing and acquiring debit products, including contactless MasterCard PayPass cards. The project also plans for integration with a partner bank's ATM network. In the near future, Bank of Astana plans to start issuing credit cards and installment loans on the WAY4 platform and to launch a WAY4-based online system for monitoring transaction risks.

Yulia Kim, Deputy Chairman of the Board, Bank of Astana, commented: "Bank of Astana has positioned itself a new generation bank. It's our goal to provide financial services of exceptional quality that even surpasses our clients' expectations. OpenWay's solution makes it possible for our bank to offer retail clients modern and innovative card products”.

Dmitry Dovgal, OpenWay's deputy director of business development, noted: "The card market in Kazakhstan is dynamic, so it's important to be able to react quickly and modify business according to trends and changes in technology. The WAY4 platform chosen by Bank Astana provides for flexible configuration of products and ensures system scalability and reliability".

Bank of Astana

Bank of Astana began activity in 2008, and from the start of 2014 under a new brand name "Bank of Astana" has offered a full range of bank services to individuals and business partners. At the beginning of 2013, the well- known Kazakh investor Kenes Rakishev became a shareholder in Bank of Astana, as did Olzhas Tokhtarov, the chairman of the board of "SAT&Co". From their first day at work, the new shareholders and the Board began developing a strategy for a “new generation” bank together with Oliver Wyman, a leading western consulting company. According to financial statements for 2013, audited by KPMG, Bank of Astana's assets were 79.6 billion tenge, equity was 12 billion tenge, and loan profile was 43 billion tenge.

Asia, payments, cards, banksGuest Userissuing, acquiring, switch