The year of partnership between Colvir, Caspian University, and Nurbank: banking technologies have entered the curriculum

On September 22, 2025, Colvir Software Solutions, Nurbank, and Caspian University signed a memorandum on strategic cooperation. Its main goal was to create an educational environment where students could get acquainted with the technologies and processes of the financial industry while still studying at the university. A year later, the tripartite partnership yielded concrete results.

One of the first joint projects was Colvir Camp Almaty, which took place in February 2026. Alongside bank specialists, teachers and students from Caspian University joined the training. Participants worked with banking processes and the Colvir system, solved practical tasks, and had the opportunity to communicate directly with specialists from financial organizations.

As a result of the training, participants particularly noted the combination of theory and practice, the opportunity to work on real-world applied tasks, and the support provided by instructors during the sessions. Both the basic topics of the course and the practical work with databases, SQL, and Python proved useful.

The next stage involved the development of dual education. Colvir and Caspian University formalized their cooperation with a separate agreement, and a minor titled “Automation of Banking Processes” was introduced into the “Software Engineering” educational program. It includes three disciplines:

1. “Banking Systems and Financial Technologies”.
2. “Colvir 1: Architecture and Fundamentals of System Functioning”.
3. “Colvir 2: Applied Configuration and Automation of Banking Operations”.

The initial experience gained also influenced the program’s content. During practical training, it became clear that students needed basic preparation in banking processes before diving into banking IT systems. As a result, the relevant discipline was added to the curriculum.

Gulnara Nurpeisova, Dean of the Institute of Engineering at Caspian University
In 2026, a new minor “Automation of Banking Processes” — dual education based on Colvir — was introduced into the “Software Engineering” educational program. To accelerate the process of preparing specialists, it was decided to start training senior and pre-graduating students immediately.

For the classes, Colvir also provided a training environment — an isolated copy of the banking system. In this environment, students can perform operations and complete practical tasks without access to the banks’ production systems: they can repeat scenarios, analyze the results of their actions, work with configurations, and gradually understand the interconnections between banking processes.

Akbotana Anesova, Senior Lecturer at Caspian University
Students do not work with a real bank’s production system, but with an isolated training copy of the platform, where they can safely perform operations, make mistakes, and repeat scenarios. Students in groups solve applied tasks on the platform from problem formulation to result.

Student feedback indicates that this format changes perceptions of the banking industry. Before the program began, many had only a general understanding of banking IT systems. After practical sessions, participants noted the scale of automation, the interconnection between accounting, customer operations, and IT, and began to consider banking IT and FinTech as potential career paths.

Vladislav Kurnenkov, HR Director at Colvir
An important result for us this year is that the cooperation has reached the level of an educational program. This is no longer about individual lectures or events: a systematic track for student preparation has emerged, where the university provides a fundamental base, and Colvir offers the opportunity to get acquainted with technologies used in the real financial industry. It is precisely this experience that helps graduates better understand the market and the requirements of future employers.

The implementation of the memorandum program became part of Colvir’s work on forming the Colvir Competence Center. This is an open professional platform for universities, IT companies, and businesses, aimed at developing banking expertise. The center’s areas of activity include expertise, community building, and specialist development.

For banks, this represents an opportunity to expand their teams in the future with prepared specialists who are already familiar with the technologies and specifics of the financial industry.

Gulnara Abisheva, Business Process Development Expert at Colvir
We view this project more broadly than just training on a specific system. Our goal is to form a pool of qualified IT specialists for banks who will acquire competencies in the Colvir system and a deep understanding of banking processes even before entering the job market. In the future, such competence centers may become an additional source of prepared personnel for banks, capable of quickly integrating into real projects.

Practical work with the system remains one of the key elements of the program. Colvir’s educational materials and simulators allow students to gradually transition from understanding individual banking operations to working with their automation and configuration.

Azamat Sadyrbaev, Head of the Colvir Training Center
A banking system is difficult to learn solely through presentations and lectures. It is important to personally go through the process in the system, see the result of configuration, make a mistake, and understand why it occurred. Therefore, the training environment and practical tasks are crucial for us: they allow us to bring student preparation closer to the tasks that specialists face in actual banks.

In the next academic year, the minor “Automation of Banking Processes” will enter a regular schedule: second-year students will join, and Caspian University plans to expand the number of learners with access to Colvir’s educational resources.

The first year of cooperation has shown that interaction between a technology company, a bank, and a university can be directly integrated into the educational process. For Colvir, this is an opportunity to transfer expertise during the preparation of future specialists, and for students, it is a chance to get acquainted with the workings of banking technologies before entering the job market.