Amidst the ongoing battle of fintech giants for every client, one of the most unnoticed market players—Nurbank—has unexpectedly caught the attention of Kazakhs.
A discussion sparked by a simple question on social media revealed the unique business model of a 'ghost bank' that has stayed afloat for decades, remaining virtually invisible to the mass consumer. It all started with a post by user @adilsb:
“Are there people who are clients of Nurbank? I've never heard of anyone using it, never seen any ads, ATMs, or apps. It's been on the market for a hundred years and still afloat. What’s the secret?”
This question triggered a flood of comments that shed light on the mysterious resilience of one of the oldest banks in the country.
The first and main reason for Nurbank's stability, according to many commenters, is its focus not on retail, but on servicing a narrow circle of large industrial and corporate clients, often linked to the bank’s shareholders.
“It's a bank from the '90s, servicing its corporate system of the largest factories in Kazakhstan. The business is gritty, heavy, not glamorous, but yields billions in profits,” succinctly described user @deltaepsilonpi.
Another commentator, @insuranceaktau_, added specificity by listing affiliated companies that, he claims, are exclusively serviced by Nurbank.
The theory of a 'bank for insiders' finds direct confirmation in official data. According to the latest bank rankings by Forbes Kazakhstan (July 2025), the majority share of Nurbank is owned by the Sarsenov family (ranked 9th among the country's wealthiest businessmen) through LLP 'JP Finance Group'.
Despite its low profile, the bank shows stable financial results. As of July 2025:
Moreover, the bank demonstrates positive dynamics. Compared to 2023, when assets were 466 billion tenge and net profit was 7 billion, the Nurbank nearly doubled its profitability. The international rating agency S&P also assesses its stability, assigning a B- rating with a 'Positive' outlook. These numbers prove that the chosen business model, focused on large businesses, is functional and profitable.
Despite its corporate bank image, Nurbank does have retail clients. As it became clear from the discussion, they are concentrated in specific niches.
“Nurbank is mainly focused on: the corporate sector, rural and regional branches—in second- and third-tier cities, the old customer base that opened accounts back in the '90s–2000s,” explained @dr.alisher_rehab.
Moreover, the bank still services payroll projects for several organizations.
“I work at Caspian University. Salaries are issued on Nurbank card,” shared @lc_meri.
However, such a closed model has its downside—technological and service lagging behind market leaders. Many commenters shared negative experiences summed up in three words: “slow, inconvenient, expensive.”
“Went to a branch to open a card—they said ID, birth certificate, RNN, SIC are required, and the card will be ready in 7 days,” recalls user @arman.bakka42, describing a procedure that takes 5 minutes in an app at other banks.
The Nurbank phenomenon proves that in the 21st century, a bank can successfully exist without a user-friendly app or extensive advertising. But this comes at the cost of being a 'ghost bank' for the vast majority of Kazakhs, for whom it remains merely a little-known bank with an interesting prefix in its name.