Kazakhstan National Bank deal with biometric startup highlights ecosystem growth

Indigenous startup Biometric.Vision has struck a deal to supply biometric ID services including liveness detention for customers of the National Bank of Kazakhstan. The company was one of several, along with Alaqan and Oqylyq.kz.

According to an announcement, Biometric.Vision concluded the deal with Infocom, a government IT solutions company.

Per the terms of the agreement, Biometric.Vision will offer a wide range of services to the Bank, including ID verification through facial recognition and liveness detection, and document recognition, among others.

The CEO of Biometric.Vision, Alibek Narimbay, praised the partnership as a milestone, saying it highlights the company’s desire to expand its market footprint both on the domestic and international levels.

“We are proud to be one of the three providers chosen by the Kyrgyz government to serve the country’s financial market,” the executive said.

Biometric.Vision is a Kazakhstan startup created in 2018 and has since been making market in routes for its biometric services in the United States, while also exploring the possibility of spreading its tentacles to Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Early this month, Kazakhstani tech startups put several new solutions on display during a solutions symposium at the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Digital Inclusion and Transformation.

As Astana Times reports, the event rallied about 50 startups with solutions in various domains, reflecting the Central Asian nation’s willingness to advance its AI-powered digital transformation journey.

“The startups and companies featured at Kazakhstan Tech Solution Day not only showcase a high level of innovation but also significantly enhance quality of life and support sustainable development. They are poised to be key players in the digital transformation process both in Kazakhstan and internationally,” said Magzhan Madiyev, CEO of Astana Hub, which organized the event.

Biometric solutions showcased during the symposium cut across domains including the environment, security, education, healthcare, and digital commerce, to mention these.

Alaqan has developed an infrared palm biometrics scanner, which it markets with separate solutions for retail payments and schools. Matching takes less than a second, and is already deployed to 140 schools, the Times reports. Company executives plan to expand soon into Georgia and Türkiy.

Oqylyq.kz is an e-learning platform that uses biometrics for ID verification and online proctoring. Results for the over 250,000 exams it has run so far can be verified through the QR codes on the digital certificates it provides. The company’s target market includes businesses that must train workers in safety or compliance, in addition to an established foothold in domestic schools.

Meanwhile, the Kazakhstani tech startup space is seen as an example of how other countries can build their tech startup ecosystems. The country is considered an emerging force in the global digital payment infrastructure.

In a Forbes analysis, a venture investor looks at the factors that have favoured the growth and development of the country’s ecosystem. These include the dedication of adequate resources, building the right network and getting the right mentorship.

The write-up also mentions that over 90 percent of government services can now be accessed online in Kazakhstan, and a plan by the government to have at least 100,000 trained IT personnel by the end of 2025.

Last year, the CEO of Verigram, a Kazakhstani startup, spoke about how digitization is prompting the growth of tech-inclined firms in central Asia.

Article Topics

Alaqan  |  Biometric.Vision  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  identity verification  |  Kazakhstan  |  Oqylyq  |  startup