BC Card Launches Payment Joint Venture in Kyrgyzstan

BC Card, a financial services company headquartered in Seoul, recently established a joint venture in Kyrgyzstan to make payment processing easier in the country. This is a JV with a local state-run payment provider to provide a unified card payment processing service in the region.

According to The Korea Herald, the joint venture company has been named BC Card Kyrgyzstan (BCKG), and it will be launched in the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, which is Bishkek. The JV will officially start its operations in August and will run through the cooperation of Smartro Korean payment services company and Interbank Processing Center (IPC), a Kyrgyz state-run payment provider.

BCKG's capital is reportedly valued at $11.88 million, and Korea's BC Card holds a 52.55 share in the joint venture company. IPC and Smartro hold the remaining 30% and 17.5% shares, respectively.

Officials said they are setting up the JV in the region to make payments easier once banks and merchants unify their payment terminals. Only three percent of local businesses are equipped to accept card payments as of the last quarter of 2022.

"BCKG will not only drive payment innovation in Kyrgyzstan but also play a pivotal role as a stepping stone for the digital payment transformation in neighboring Central Asian countries with similar cultures and environments," Choi Won Seok, the chief executive officer of BC Card, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Chosun Business reported that BCKG is the only professional purchaser in Kyrgyzstan. It plans to buy all major licenses from the local authorities and then create a unified payment system. Using BC Card's BAIS global payment solution, the company aims to process an array of simple payments, including QR, NFC, and regular card transactions in Kyrgyzstan.

Photo by: BC Card Website