The digitalization of medicine in Kazakhstan has split into two parallel worlds: state and private medical systems (DamuMed, KDL Olymp) and banking marketplaces that have turned pharmacies into convenient storefronts. Today, buying medicines inside Kaspi or Freedom (Arbuz) is an extension of the habit of ordering groceries. However, behind the convenience of a "basket of vitamins" lies a serious gap: banks are excellent at delivering boxes but are barely involved in health analysis, booking doctor appointments, or storing test results.
What is this research about?
In this research, we conducted in-depth interviews with Kazakhstanis to study their experience interacting with banking ecosystems.
In this article, we analyze health and pharmacy delivery services:
- How do different segments choose between going to the nearest pharmacy and ordering in a superapp?
- Why does buying medicines in a bank remain just a part of the "grocery basket" for many?
- What barriers prevent users from trusting financial institutions with their medical data?
Below is a detailed breakdown of the five archetypes defining the digital health landscape in Kazakhstan.
😐 Normies
For them, a pharmacy service inside a bank is just another convenient way to support their daily routine. They are not looking for deep integration with health; it is important to them that their usual "vitamin D" arrives along with their groceries.
Health and pharmacies (Score: 5/10)
Needs are only partially met. As long as buying medicines looks like "goods delivery," normies are satisfied, but as soon as the question of booking a doctor or viewing test results arises, they have to leave the ecosystem.
Quote: "Out of medicines, I only buy vitamin D3 on Kaspi. But it would be cool if DamuMed data and doctor appointments were also in the bank."
Behavior: They order medicines and dietary supplements through a banking marketplace (Kaspi, Arbuz) since their card is already linked. At the same time, they store test results in a separate app (KDL Olymp), perceiving these as different, unconnected worlds.
Blockers and barriers
- The "urgent pain" barrier: The main unique blocker is delivery time. If a medicine is needed "here and now" (with a high fever or acute pain), a normie will not wait 60 minutes for a courier but will go to the pharmacy in their building.
- Difficulty finding alternatives: If a specific drug is not in the bank's app, a normie often does not know what to replace it with. The lack of smart prompts by active ingredient (generics) blocks the purchase.
- Cognitive gap of services: A persistent perception of health as a sphere separate from finance; a normie does not see the connection between a bank and a medical record, preferring to use services like DamuMed separately.
🤑 Pragmatists
For them, health is just another expense category that needs to be optimized. They actively use the pharmacy sections of banks only when it promises direct profit in the form of cashback or free delivery.
Health and pharmacies (Score: 8/10)
Current capabilities fully cover their demand for savings when buying medications. They view Arbuz in Freedom or the pharmacy section of Halyk as a way to buy cheaper than in a physical pharmacy.
Quote: "I buy medicines on Kaspi and through Arbuz in Freedom—all pharmacies are connected there anyway. Why download other apps?"
Behavior: They might assemble a basket in the bank, see that it is 200 tenge cheaper for pickup at the neighboring pharmacy across the street, and go there. But more often, they choose delivery for the sake of a large cashback in the "Health" category.
Blockers and barriers
- Lack of end-to-end checkup packages: The main blocker is that the bank does not offer comprehensive medical services with cashback (for example, a "Tests + vitamins" package). For a pragmatist, this is a lost opportunity.
- Inflexibility of bonus programs: It annoys them when cashback on medicines does not stack with the pharmacies' own promotions. If buying in the bank's app deprives them of the pharmacy's discount card, they will choose offline.
- Lack of a price aggregator: A blocker is the inability to see prices in all city pharmacies at once within the banking interface to choose not the most convenient, but the most profitable location.
🥸 Olds
Conservatives for whom a pharmacy is a place for consultation. It is important for them to talk to a pharmacist, not just press an "Order" button. The digital journey in this category seems unreliable to them.
Health and pharmacies (Score: 2/10)
Almost complete lack of engagement. For them, buying medicines in a bank is an unnecessary complication of a process that is solved faster and more understandably "on foot."
Quote: "In Halyk, you can even order from pharmacies, but it's easier for me to walk to them on foot."
Behavior: They know about the service's existence but do not use it. They believe that in a pharmacy they will be given a fresher drug or better consulted on the dosage. Digital checkups and tests are beyond their understanding.
Blockers and barriers
- Fear of fakes and expiration dates: The key unique blocker is distrust of courier delivery of medicines. Olds are afraid they will be brought "expired goods" or that storage conditions will be violated (for example, for drugs requiring refrigeration).
- Search difficulty: Difficulties with entering long and complex medical names into the search bar, which makes the digital purchase journey too tedious.
- Priority of physical contact: A deep conviction that medicines must be bought "on foot" in a pharmacy for the sake of getting live advice from a pharmacist and visually checking the drug.
🧐 Financially literate
They view health as a long-term investment in their productivity. For them, expense analytics and the integration of all medical data into a single dashboard are critically important, which banks do not yet provide.
Health and pharmacies (Score: 3/10)
They spend a lot of time manually transferring data about medicine purchases into their accounting systems, as banks often confuse "pharmacies" with "supermarkets" in the statement.
Quote: "I record everything in Zenmoney. Sometimes I sync with Kaspi, but I have to manually correct the medicine category from groceries."
Behavior: They keep detailed records of spending on dietary supplements and tests. They might use different banks to pay for dentistry or checkups to maximize profit, but they suffer from the fact that their medical history remains fragmented.
Blockers and barriers
- Category confusion: The main blocker is incorrect classification. A purchase in a pharmacy at a supermarket often falls into "Groceries," which distorts their reports on the cost of maintaining health.
- Lack of integration with laboratories: They lack the function of automatically loading test results (from Olymp or Invivo) into the banking app to correlate with spending on vitamins.
- No control over "planned" spending: A blocker is the lack of reminders about the need for repeat tests or buying course medications, which prevents them from effectively managing their health budget.
😡 The burned
The most cautious segment. Health for them is a maximally private zone. Any attempt by the bank to "get into" their medical data (tests, diagnoses) causes them to suspect the future use of this info against them.
Health and pharmacies (Score: 2/10)
Skepticism and rejection of deep integrations. They order from a pharmacy through a bank only in the most extreme case, trying "not to expose" the list of their illnesses to a financial organization.
Quote: "I am alarmed by biometrics for medical topics. Biometrics should remain only for official documents. What if there is a health data leak?"
Behavior: They buy medicines offline or through anonymous delivery services. They are categorically against syncing the bank with DamuMed, fearing that data on chronic diseases could affect their insurance or credit scoring.
Blockers and barriers
- Fear of "medical scoring": A unique blocker is the conviction that the bank analyzes their pharmacy basket and, on this basis, draws conclusions about their reliability as a borrower.
- Fear of diagnosis leaks: Any news about failures in banking systems strengthens their reluctance to trust the ecosystem even with the purchase of simple drugs.
- Distrust of biometrics in Health scenarios: A blocker is any proposal by the bank to "link the health profile via the face"—for them, this looks like total control over the most vulnerable part of life.
Final summary
At the moment, banks in Kazakhstan are convenient couriers for pharmacies, but not partners in health matters. The main insight: trust in the Health category is built not on cashback, but on data security and depth of integration.
The winning ecosystem will be the one that can be the first to offer a "seamless" journey: from booking a doctor and getting a prescription to the automatic delivery of the required drug and loading test results into a single, secure dashboard. For now, "health in the bank" remains for the majority just a convenient way to buy vitamins without getting off the couch.
