Client story
How the situation developed
Where they started
Yerzhan runs a logistics business: some of his partners and contractors are in Kazakhstan and settlements are constant. Running them through intermediaries had become inconvenient and expensive, so he decided to open a personal account in Almaty and a corporate one later. He planned the trip around meetings: three days, a tight schedule, the bank squeezed in between.
Day one: a stop
At the branch the conversation ended on the first question: do you have an IIN? The individual identification number is a mandatory condition for a non-resident; without it the bank will neither open an account nor accept documents. It is obtained separately from the bank and takes its own time. Yerzhan was not prepared for that - in his mind an account was opened on a passport.
The second surprise
It then emerged that since April 2025 banks in Kazakhstan open accounts for non-residents only in person and after an enhanced compliance review. The remote arrangements his acquaintances had described had closed by then. Add a local phone number: without a Kazakh SIM card transaction confirmation does not work, and neither does the bank’s app.
What we did that same evening
We stepped in the same day. We rebuilt the schedule: the next morning for obtaining the IIN, the day for preparing the pack to the specific branch’s requirements, the evening for a local SIM. On the third day, a scheduled bank visit at a set hour. Yerzhan’s meetings were moved to early morning and late evening so the daytime stayed free for procedures.
How the bank was chosen
Among the systemic banks we picked the one whose practice with non-residents was the most predictable at that point: a clear document list and a well-practised procedure at a specific branch. The second candidate dropped out because it required proof of an employment link with Kazakhstan, which Yerzhan did not have as an entrepreneur from a neighbouring country. The third worked only with clients holding local registration.
What we showed the bank
The file was built around economic logic: why a citizen of Kyrgyzstan needs an account in Kazakhstan. We showed contracts with Kazakh contractors, the history of settlements, his stake in the logistics company as the source of funds, and a plan of future operations - currencies, frequency, range of amounts. For the bank the picture came together: this is not an account just in case but a tool for specific settlements.
I thought I would walk into a bank with my passport for half an hour. By the evening of the first day I realised I would not open an account at all - and called BRIDGES. In the two days left we did what I had budgeted half an hour for: the number, the documents, the SIM, the visit. I flew home with a card.
