FREEDOM CALLING FOUNDER INTERVIEW
Timur Turlov is building a financial ecosystem in Kazakhstan, which could serve as a blueprint to expand not just across Central Asia, but the world. In this special Q&A with the Founder of Freedom Holding Corp, Turlov explains his superapp strategy and why his door is open to hyperscalers THE PAYTECH MAGAZINE: Can you give us a snapshot of the company’s growth path and where it is now? TIMUR TURLOV: I launched Freedom in late 2008 to allow people in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to access the US stock market. We saw we were good at building technology so we began expanding into other services, including insurance, which remains much less digitalised than brokerage. At the same time, digital banks were starting to compete directly with brokers, so if we wanted to remain independent and continue growing, we had to evolve into a digital bank ourselves. That led us to launch Freedom Bank in Kazakhstan, which became the foundation of our ecosystem. We continued expanding into telecommunications, e-commerce and other digital services — all designed to work together within one integrated platform. So, what began as a brokerage-only company, evolved into Freedom Holding Corp, a US-based public company listed on NASDAQ. In 2024, we launched our Freedom Super App, where customers can manage their finances, invest, make payments, buy tickets for a football
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match or concert, arrange travel, or even watch a movie. It’s not just a financial app – it’s a true super-app, a full digital ecosystem designed to simplify everyday life. TPM: The Freedom Superapp has rapidly evolved into one of the most advanced multi-vertical ecosystems in the region. What was the thought process behind it? TT: Some services can acquire customers very cheaply, but it’s very difficult for them to retain them. For others, like insurance and investments, acquisition is harder, and the cost of it is significantly higher. Banks, however, are among the most trusted institutions, so it’s much easier to upsell customers to more complex services. Different services [in our ecosystem] complement each other, too. You can make the payments experience much smoother, for example, if a customer holds an account with Freedom Bank. If we already have customers’ information, it becomes much easier for them to buy, for instance, an airline ticket through the platform. Instead of going to a separate service, they can
simply open the banking app they use every day, click a button, and buy the ticket. It’s easier, faster, and often cheaper than via an external provider. And customers are starting to see day-to-day savings, too, because our loyalty programme gives cash back, creating unique experiences. Some of the services are contributing frequency. Some are contributing retention. Others are contributing confidence and trust. All of them benefit from being part of the ecosystem.
Timur Turlov, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Freedom Holding Corp
TPM: Kazakhstan isn’t seen as a global fintech centre. What makes it a good environment for building a platform of this scale? TT: We have a lot of well-educated people, for a start. The majority of our 10,000 employees speak English. Kazakhstan also has a very young population, and our GDP per capita is higher than in neighbouring markets, or the rest of Central Asia combined. Both the population and the government are very tech-optimistic. We adopt technology very fast, and that rapid adoption has created a unique
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