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On March 17, Moody’s Ratings assigned Freedom Bank Kazakhstan a set of ratings, including a long-term deposit rating of Ba3 with a stable outlook and long-term counterparty risk ratings of Ba2, reflecting the bank’s solid credit profile. "This marks Moody’s first assessment of the bank and an important milestone in its development and international recognition," stated Freedom Holding Corp. in its press release.
Rating Drivers
According to Moody's, the rating is driven by rapid bank growth, its central role within the Freedom Holding multi-industry ecosystem, a sound but still developing lending model, modest credit risks, strong reserve coverage, solid liquidity, and capital adequacy.
In the future, a potential upgrade of the rating is possible if Freedom Bank stabilizes its asset structure, increasing reliance on less volatile sources of revenue (such as the loan portfolio) and decreasing reliance on the less predictable securities portfolio.
Dual Recognition
Earlier this month, S&P Global Ratings affirmed B+/B long- and short-term issuer credit ratings on Freedom Bank and maintained the positive outlook. Ratings from both S&P Global Ratings and Moody's Ratings provide broader external coverage of the bank’s profile. Consistent assessments across the two agencies (the ratings from S&P and Moody's are at comparable levels on a cross-scale basis) support investor confidence in the bank.
All-in-One Banking
Freedom Bank, which celebrated its fifth anniversary in December 2025, is a universal bank within Freedom Holding's ecosystem, providing a wide range of financial services to both retail and corporate clients in Kazakhstan. It has a fully digitalized line of products - including mortgages, auto loans, and small business financing - that may be approved within 24 hours, without visiting a branch, thanks to integration with government e-services and the active use of AI credit assessment and compliance procedures.
All the services are available to the clients through Freedom's SuperApp, which, besides banking, provides access to all the other businesses of the group - brokerage, insurance, lifestyle, telecom, and media services, all united under the umbrella of Freedom Holding Corp., a NASDAQ-listed head company of the group with operations in more than 20 countries.
According to the bank management, the number of SuperApp users, which has become one of the country’s most downloaded apps, has already reached 5 million, doubling over the past year. By the end of 2026, it is expected to grow to 8 million. Considering partner projects within Freedom’s ecosystem, the group serves over 11 million clients.
Gateway to the World
As one of Kazakhstan’s major banks by asset size (ranked among the top 10) and performance (by the end of last year, among the country’s five most profitable banks), Freedom Bank plans to extend its innovations beyond Kazakhstan.
Freedom Holding Corp. is actively expanding its banking operations across several other countries. The banking business has recently been launched in Tajikistan, and Freedom is in the process of acquiring a bank in Georgia. Freedom Holding CEO Timur Turlov has also not ruled out acquiring a bank in Europe under favorable conditions.
Banking expansion is a key component of Freedom Holding’s broader international growth strategy as a comprehensive ecosystem. The bank, together with its SuperApp, which provides access to all Freedom services across different segments, serves as a key gateway for deploying the group’s fintech ecosystem and extending the geographical reach of its digital platform. Essentially, it functions as a single entry point for users of any Freedom service.
The content has been authored in collaboration with our guest contributor, Daniel Harper.
