In 2018, after a change in legislation, the bank opened 70 thousand special accounts for military personnel to buy housing. The money in these accounts is inviolable and cannot be arrested because of military debts, for example, in case of non-payment of a loan.

In July 2018, the Askeri Baspanа program was launched. The bank offered preferential terms to servicemen for buying an apartment: the interest rate is from 6 to 8% per annum, the down payment is from 5 to 20%. Loans will get those applicants who score more points. Points are calculated at the rate for each full month of service. Those who have served longer have more chances.

Under the terms of the Askeri Baspanа program, military personnel who have accumulated only 5% of the apartment’s value can receive a loan at a rate of 7% per annum. The condition is that an apartment can be purchased only in the primary market: those who have accumulated 20% of the apartment value will be able to apply for a loan to purchase a new home from the developer at 6% per annum. Military personnel who want to purchase housing on the secondary market must contribute 20% of the property value, and the annual loan rate will be 8%.

According to Ibragimova, askeri.baspana.kz received 13 thousand hits through a specially developed website of the Housing Construction Savings Bank of Kazakhstan JSC. Of these, 5.5 thousand soldiers each received a positive decision on the loan, the documents were signed, at the moment the applicants are looking for apartments.

In total, 2,250 people have already received affordable loans from the bank and settled in their apartments. Documents of 250 military personnel are pending at the bank.

“We plan until April 1, 2019 to consider all documents of 5.5 thousand servicemen who received a positive decision on the loan and start the second program,” said Ibragimova.

Responding to questions from the media, she also spoke about the ongoing work on the provision of services online.

So, Kazakhstanis can find out about all the facilities being constructed under the Nurly Zher program on the website baspana.kz. On the portal, the applicant can choose the city in which he wants to buy an apartment of available square meters, and see which objects are being built, whether applications are received, choose an apartment he likes, apply for participation in the pool of home buyers.

“Every year the number of depositors is growing: we already have 1.2 million depositors, although 3 years ago there were 600 thousand. At the same time, the number of people in the bank does not increase. Therefore, over the past 3 years we have focused on the tremendous automation of all business processes,” said Ibragimova.

First of all, there is an opportunity to call a home consultant and he will open a deposit from his special tablet right at home. Secondly, depositors can replenish a deposit from a card of any bank without fees, regardless of the amount. The third stage of automation is the submission of documents through the electronic portal. Throughout 2018, the collection of applications, the distribution of apartments and other processes were carried out through the portal baspana.kz, which is associated with Internet banking.

“We are planning to implement a large prequalification project. Many investors are concerned about the question: with a real income of 100-120 thousand tenge per month, how much they could claim. The ‘pre-qualification’ institute will be launched in early 2019 and will give each depositor an opportunity to receive information about how much the loan can be approved at the bank,” explained the speaker.

The average age of the depositor is 36 years. 150 thousand of children's deposits open from 0 to 18 years. According to Ibragimova, people who once used the bank’s services understand the advantages and begin to save money from the birth of a child. Every third investor is between the ages of 18 and 29 — this is, as the speaker says, a priority group.

"In the Year of Youth (2019, declared by the Head of State as the Year of Youth) we will handle various initiatives for young families who have several families in order to make programs not only in the primary market, but also in the secondary one, including and extension tools. Because when we consider the various segments of our investors, we see that each segment of the population has its own needs. In the beginning, a person comes — he wants to buy a one-room apartment in order to get a roof over his head. After 3-4 years, he turns to us with a request for an increase (area), because there are children. And this life cycle is very important, we will try to develop programs that at every stage of the family could meet the needs of depositors,” the bank’s chairman concluded.