On October 13, employees of Kyrgyz Pochtasy OJSC were presented with the first BAKAI Elcard+ trade union bank cards. This marks the hands-on phase of a large-scale social project by the Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan, BAKAI, and the Elcard National Payment System, which will ultimately reach more than 347,000 trade union members nationwide.

The event was attended by Muradil Dzhumadilde uulu, Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan; Almira Isabekova, Managing Director for Retail Banking at BAKAI; and employees of Kyrgyz Pochtasy OJSC.

The new card combines three functions in one: a bank card, a trade union membership ID, and a loyalty program. In the first phase of the project, 30,000 cards will be issued to replace the existing trade union discount cards. The project will then be scaled up to cover 347,560 members of the Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan across 6,037 primary trade union organizations.

Today, the Federation represents workers in 16 sectors of the economy, including education, healthcare, civil service, energy, construction, manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, and retail.

“It is very important to us that trade union membership gives people not only protection of their labor rights and interests, but also real benefits in their everyday lives. Today, we are moving from agreements to tangible results by presenting the first trade union bank cards to our members. I am confident that the new card will be a convenient tool and will deliver real value to workers and their families,” said Muradil Dzhumadilde uulu.

The Elcard+ card lets cardholders make cashless payments, receive money transfers, and use modern banking services. Cardholders will also have access to special discounts and offers from program partners in the most popular categories:

• Medical services and health products
• Children’s products and education
• Restaurants, cafés, and food service
• Hotels, leisure, and travel services
• Airline tickets and passenger transportation
• Beauty salons and personal care services

Presenting the first cards to Kyrgyz Pochtasy employees marks the start of the project’s rollout, which brings together financial technology and social benefits for hundreds of thousands of workers across Kyrgyzstan.