Regulation on Minimum Requirements for the Pricing Policy of Banking, Payment Services and Services Provided by Microfinance Organizations, and for the Implementation of Marketing Activities

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Date of creation: 2026-07-08

Appendix

to the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic

dated December 29, 2021 No. 2021-P-12/75-1-(BS)

REGULATION

on minimum requirements for the pricing policy of banking, payment services and services provided by microfinance organizations, and for the implementation of marketing activities

(As amended by resolutions of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated December 28, 2022 No. 2022-P-12/83-8, April 29, 2023 No. 2023-P-12/29-1, January 22, 2025 No. 2025-P-12/2-3-(NFKU), April 27, 2026 No. 2026-P-12/26-3-(NPA))

1. General Provisions

2. The purpose of this Regulation is to ensure a systematic approach to the pricing of banking services of commercial banks, payment services of payment system operators, payment organizations and services of non-bank financial and credit organizations licensed and regulated by the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic (hereinafter - the National Bank), including those operating in accordance with Islamic banking and finance principles, taking into account the special terminology they use when carrying out banking operations (hereinafter - banking service providers), for compliance with the antimonopoly legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as to establish minimum requirements for the implementation of marketing activities by banking service providers.

The requirements of the Regulation apply to banking service providers, in accordance with their designation in the clauses and sections of this Regulation.

2. For the purposes of this Regulation:

Pricing Policy - is the activity of a banking service provider aimed at determining a pricing strategy, which must be formalized in an internal regulatory document of the banking service provider, regulating the process of pricing (setting prices) for various banking payment services (products) and services provided by microfinance organizations, and their change in accordance with market conditions.

Marketing activities - activities of commercial banks (hereinafter - banks) aimed at studying, researching, analyzing the market and consumer demand, collecting and disseminating information about banking products and services to increase competitiveness in the market, as well as retaining existing and attracting new clients.

For the purposes of this Regulation:

• the term “credit” also means financing provided under Islamic banking and finance principles;

• the term “interest rate” also means markup on financing provided under Islamic banking and finance principles.

Markup – the rate of return on contracts in accordance with Islamic banking and finance principles, expressed as a nominal annual percentage value, as well as an increase in the borrower's obligation amount compared to the price (cost) of goods, work, or services with full one-time payment.

(As amended by the resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated April 27, 2026 No. 2026-P-12/26-3-(NPA))

3. The sizes of interest rates, commission fees, and tariffs are set by banking service providers independently, taking into account the requirements of the banking legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic and the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic on limiting usurious activities.

A service for which banking service providers charge commissions and other payments must meet the following requirements:

• have a separate benefit or consumer value for the client;

• be independent and separate from the main loan provision service;

• not relate to services provided free of charge in accordance with legislative requirements.

(As amended by the resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated April 27, 2026 No. 2026-P-12/26-3-(NPA))

4. Banking service providers, with the exception of payment system operators and payment organizations (that are not banks), are prohibited from entering into an agreement for the paid use of a trademark with an affiliated person and a person related to the bank, as well as any other person who is the owner of the trademark, if the specified person is partially or fully the beneficiary under such an agreement.

5. Requirements for the pricing policy of banking service providers

6. Each banking service provider must have a pricing policy approved by the authorized management body (board of directors - for banks and authorized management body/person - for other banking service providers).

7. The executive body (management board - for banks and authorized executive body/person - for other banking service providers) is responsible for the development and implementation of the pricing policy.

8. The pricing policy, depending on the specifics of the banking service provider's activities, must at a minimum provide for the following:

1. goals and objectives of the pricing policy of the banking service provider when carrying out active and passive operations, taking into account risk weighting and justification of remuneration;

2. requirement for conducting market analysis of demand and prices for banking payment services and services provided by microfinance organizations;

3. requirement for analyzing the formation of the interest rate structure, including interest and non-interest expenses, to achieve the profitability level set by the banking service provider;

4. requirement for disclosing the components that make up interest rates for all types of loans (including the cost of attracted funds, loan servicing costs, operating expenses, expenses for forming a reserve for potential losses and damages, taxes, planned profitability rate (margin) and other costs due to objective factors, regional and other peculiarities of the functioning of banking service providers), and acceptable lower and upper limits of interest rates for the banking service provider, as well as requirements for their application and periodic review;

5. requirements for disclosing components for interest rates of all types of deposits, acceptable lower and upper limits of interest rates for banking service providers, and requirements for their application and periodic review;

6. requirements for justifying the cost of other banking, payment services and services provided by microfinance organizations in the form of tariffs, commission fees, fixed payments, and requirements for their application and periodic review;

7. justification for the choice of method for determining prices for banking, payment services and services provided by microfinance organizations to banking service providers, as well as requirements for methodologies based on realistic assumptions and peculiarities of the business activities of banking service providers;

8. powers of management bodies and relevant structural divisions of banking service providers, their responsibility for achieving the goals of the pricing policy and implementing the pricing strategy of banking service providers;

9. requirements for monitoring, controlling, and analyzing the effectiveness of the pricing policy of the banking service provider;

10. requirements for timely informing clients about the terms of provision of banking payment services and services provided by microfinance organizations, and their subsequent changes and additions to existing interest rates, commission fees, and tariffs of banking service providers;

11. frequency of analysis of current tariffs and requirements for their revision and submission for consideration to the authorized management body.

(As amended by resolutions of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated December 28, 2022 No. 2022-P-12/83-8, April 29, 2023 No. 2023-P-12/29-1, January 22, 2025 No. 2025-P-12/2-3-(NFKU))

7-3. Banking service providers operating in accordance with Islamic banking and finance principles, when providing financing for which a repayment schedule or income accrual is possible, must recalculate the markup/income or the increase in the client's debt amount compared to the price (cost) of goods, work, or services (hereinafter – markup) into a nominal annual percentage value for the purpose of disclosing information about the cost of financing in accordance with the regulatory legal acts of the National Bank. The nominal annual interest rate (R_nom) is determined based on the actual absolute amount of the markup (I) according to the following algorithm:

1. the equal monthly annuity payment (A) is determined:

A=(financing amount (P)+markup (I))/(financing term in months (k))

where:

P – financing amount;

I – markup;

k – financing term in months;

2. the nominal monthly rate (r) is determined by iteration:

A=P*(r*(1+r)^k)/((1+r)^k-1)

where:

r – nominal monthly rate;

A – monthly annuity payment;

P – financing amount;

k – financing term in months;

3. the nominal annual interest rate is determined:

R_nom = r*12.

The calculation of the nominal annual interest rate for financing in accordance with Islamic principles is performed assuming monthly annuity debt repayment.

The nominal annual interest rate must be rounded to ten-thousandths (four decimal places).

To calculate the nominal annual interest rate, the financial function “RATE” of Microsoft EXCEL (function “rate”, if the Microsoft EXCEL version is English) can be used:

• the financing term in months is used as the “Nper” value;

• the monthly annuity payment amount (A), determined in accordance with sub-paragraph 1 of this clause, is indicated with a minus sign as the “Pmt” value;

• the financing amount is used as “Pv”.

To obtain the nominal annual interest rate, the value obtained using the “RATE” function of Microsoft EXCEL is multiplied by 12.

(As amended by the resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated April 27, 2026 No. 2026-P-12/26-3-(NPA))

3. Requirements for conducting marketing activities by banks

4. Banks independently determine their marketing strategy/policy in accordance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic and the regulatory legal acts of the National Bank.

5. Banks are not restricted in their activities in implementing marketing tools, with the exception of the requirements of this Regulation.

6. When carrying out marketing activities, banks must comply with legislation in the field of antimonopoly regulation, advertising, competition, consumer protection, and regulatory legal acts of the National Bank, as well as adhere to business and professional ethics, the norms of which must be regulated in the bank's internal documents.

7. Advertising about the bank, banking products and services, interest rates, commission fees, and tariffs, placed in mass media, on official websites and other carriers (advertising brochures, roadside billboards, stands, etc.), as well as information provided during client consultations, must be reliable and complete to prevent misleading clients.

If it is impossible to provide full information in a bank's advertisement, the advertisement must contain a link to the official website or another information carrier where full information about the terms of providing the relevant services is placed.

A bank's advertisement must contain its full name and license number in accordance with the license issued by the National Bank.

(As amended by the resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic dated December 28, 2022 No. 2022-P-12/83-8)

12. A bank's advertisement must not contain information of a political nature, information about political parties and candidates for elected office, or other political information.

13. Advertising about a bank, its products, and services must not be placed in locations or at events related to political activities, the activities of candidates for elected office, and political parties.

14. To ensure the accessibility of information about banking services, any advertisement or publication by a bank about banking services, regardless of the method and place of its placement, must contain information about available communication channels (e.g., the bank's official website, phone numbers, social networks, messengers, email, etc.).

15. For a bank to use photographs or video recordings depicting client(s), audio recordings, and other information about them in advertising, marketing materials, and for other public purposes, the client(s)' consent must be obtained in accordance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.

16. When conducting marketing activities, a bank is prohibited from:

• being the organizer of any type of lottery in accordance with the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Lotteries";

• conducting "gaming" events (an event whose condition involves a competition between participants, giving the opportunity to either win or not win depending on chance);

• sponsoring lotteries, draws, and other gaming events;

• participating in the distribution of lottery tickets;

• announcing, advertising, or publicizing the existence of any lottery, lottery winners, draws, and other "gaming" events.

17. Banks have the right to open bank accounts for legal entities and state bodies when they conduct lottery activities.

18. To stimulate clients, encourage them, attract new clients, and increase the level of use of products and banking services, banks have the right to conduct promotional events/campaigns.

A bank's promotional event/campaign is understood as an event not prohibited by this Regulation, aimed at increasing the sales volume of existing services using various tools for stimulation, client encouragement, and attracting new clients.

19. A bank's promotional event/campaign cannot contain the following features:

• random determination of winning participants;

• "gaming" nature;

• paid participation.

20. To comply with the basic principles of banking legal relations, affiliated/related persons of the bank are prohibited from participating in promotional events/campaigns.

21. A bank's promotional events/campaigns must be conducted in accordance with approved documents containing the procedure/rules for conducting, the list of subjects (who can participate), the participation procedure, the conditions for determining the winner, the formation of winnings, the budget, and other requirements for the promotional event/campaign.

22. A bank's announcement about a promotional event/campaign must contain the following information:

• name of the promotional event;

• information about the organizer of the promotional event;

• terms of conduct;

• period of conduct;

• requirements for participants;

• procedure for determining winners;

• procedure for winners to receive prizes;

• rights and obligations of participants;

• rights and obligations of the organizer;

• and other terms.

23. The results of promotional events must be published on the bank's official website, and optionally on other communication channels and information carriers.

24. When conducting a marketing event, the feature of random determination of winning participants does not apply to campaigns conducted on social networks for the purpose of promotion, increasing account visits, expanding reach, and increasing interest in the bank. The condition for participation in such campaigns must not be the acquisition of a banking product or service.

25. Concluding Provisions

26. The pricing policy and marketing policy implemented by a banking service provider must be transparent, comply with the requirements of the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic on antimonopoly regulation, in the field of personal data protection, banking secrecy, on the development of fair competition, and consumer protection for banking, payment services, and services provided by microfinance organizations.

27. The pricing policy must be reviewed and approved by the authorized management body at least once a year, taking into account the results and new directions of the banking service provider's activities.

28. Banking service providers are obliged to provide their pricing policy and internal documents upon request of the National Bank.

In case of changes to declared interest rates on deposits and loans, the banking service provider must notify the relevant structural unit of the National Bank of the respective changes within 7 (seven) business days, providing a detailed justification for the reasons for these changes, and also submit internal documents (a copy of the protocol and a copy of the decision (extract) of the authorized body of the banking service provider by which they were approved).

In case of changes to the tariff policy, payment system operators/payment organizations must notify the relevant structural unit of the National Bank of the introduced changes within 10 (ten) business days, providing a detailed justification for the reasons for these changes, and also submit internal documents (a copy of the protocol and a copy of the decision (extract) of the authorized body of the payment system operator/payment organization by which they were approved).

28. The National Bank analyzes the pricing policy of banking service providers for its compliance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.

29. The marketing activities of banks must not deviate from the main goals and objectives, negatively affect economic ratios, the bank's reputation, and must correspond to the bank's capabilities and financial condition.

30. In case of violation of the requirements for conducting marketing activities, the bank bears responsibility in accordance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.

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