Timur Turlov on Freedom Holding’s Strategy: From Kazakhstan’s Digitalization to U.S. Expansion

In an exclusive interview with FinTech.tv, Freedom Holding Corp. CEO Timur Turlov shared key insights into the company’s transformation amid the digital boom in Central Asia, and outlined ambitious plans for entering the U.S. market. His comments reveal how a regional player is evolving into a global tech innovator.

Central Asia: Growth Amid Infrastructure Challenges

Timur Turlov identified Kazakhstan as the epicenter of digital progress in the region. According to him, the Kazakh market is showing “very high growth rates” driven by two key factors: public optimism and openness to innovation, and the unprecedented speed of development in the financial sector. “These services are developing faster than anywhere else in the world,” he emphasized. However, this progress faces a historical legacy — the lack of a developed IT infrastructure.

In Timur Turlov’s view, the public sector has long operated on outdated models: “They spend too much time on planning, procurement, and approvals.” Banks and private companies also struggled to keep up with the increasing demand for computing power, memory, and cloud solutions. Regulatory restrictions further complicated the situation — for example, the ban on using Amazon Cloud in Kazakhstan. “We realized that the shortage of national data centers threatened our own ecosystem — digital banking and insurance,” the CEO admitted.

Cloud Investment: A Response to the Infrastructure Crisis

To address these issues, Freedom Holding Corp. launched a large-scale data center construction program. “We started investing because we lacked enough hardware even for our internal needs,” Timur Turlov explained. The company not only resolved its own infrastructure demands but also laid the groundwork to support other market players: “We are now in talks with market participants, including government entities, to provide cloud services.”

Timur Turlov placed special emphasis on synchronizing with the public sector: “Their computing needs are growing just as fast as in private industry.” The recently completed stage of the cloud expansion has already positioned Freedom Holding as a key operator in the segment. “We became our own biggest client — but this is just the beginning,” Timur Turlov added.

Freedom Super App: A Universal Digital Hub

The company’s pride is its super app, which has brought together 10 million users in Kazakhstan. Timur Turlov elaborated on the app’s philosophy: “The main advantage is the combination of various services. Everyday payments exist alongside flight tickets or insurance — things people need once or twice a year.” The tech core of the platform is built on machine learning and data integration.

The system analyzes user behavior (with consent) and connects to government databases to automate complex processes. “For example, to purchase insurance, users don’t need to enter their data — we retrieve it from official sources,” Timur Turlov noted. Algorithms also generate personalized offers: “If your favorite artist is performing nearby, the app will notify you and offer the best seats through our partners.”

In addition to financial services, the platform allows users to order food, manage investments, and even plan entertainment. “You no longer need to remember dozens of passwords or card details — everything is in one interface,” said the CEO Timur Turlov. This approach, he stated, “truly works”: reaching 10 million users in a country with 19 million residents speaks for itself.

U.S. Ambitions: From Lab to Global Market

When asked about the company’s expansion plans in the United States, Timur Turlov laid out a clear strategy: “Central Asia is our laboratory. It’s where we test models that we then scale.” One of the company’s main assets for expansion is its status as an American company: “Access to New York investors and capital opens up entirely new opportunities.”

Freedom Holding is already building an “efficient digital bank” in the U.S., replicating the Kazakh model. “We are implementing the same principles: a single platform for financial services, everyday services, and personalized recommendations,” he explained. However, Turlov acknowledged that adapting to local conditions will take time: “Differences in regulatory requirements and customer expectations are a serious challenge. But our super app proved its flexibility in Kazakhstan — I’m confident we’ll succeed here too.”

In conclusion, Timur Turlov emphasized that Freedom Holding sees itself not just as a company but as a driver of systemic change: “Digitalization is not a temporary trend but a new foundation for economies. We are not investing in technology — we are investing in the future, where service boundaries disappear.”

In this way, Timur Turlov described the company’s mission: to unite financial inclusion, technological boldness, and customer centricity. “Kazakhstan was a testing ground, but our goal is to place Freedom on the global digital map,” he concluded, hinting at ambitions that reach far beyond Central Asia.