Retail Payment Systems
In the OIC Member Countries
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and Istanbul Interbank Clearing Houses. The ICHs provide same‑day clearing for cheques,
although overall net settlement occurs the next business day at 12:00 local time. Funds are
available to beneficiaries within four to six days. Traveller’s cheques are issued in all leading
currencies by banks and are relatively commonplace.
Credit Cards
Plastic was first used to Turkey in 1968 with the introduction of Diners Club Cards, which
were seen solely as an element of prestige. As a result of increased tourism in Turkey during
the 1970s, American Express Cards entered the market. Along with the Diners Club Cards,
these cards stood unrivalled until the entrance of Eurocard, Mastercard, and Access cards in
1975.
The use of payment cards in Turkey has increased rapidly in recent years. There were
approximately 56 million credit cards and 94.5 million debit cards in circulation in January
2013 (HSBC, 2013). Credit and debit cards accounted for 64% and 30% respectively of all
cashless payments in 2011; the value of payment card transactions over the same period was
negligible. Visa and MasterCard are the principal payment card issuers in Turkey. The
Interbank Card Centre (Bankalararası Kart Merkezi – BKM) clears all card payments involving
its 28 member banks. All member banks must be a member of Visa or MasterCard. Other card
payments are cleared via correspondent banking arrangements.
There were approximately 38,015 ATM terminals and 2.22 million PoS terminals operating in
Turkey at the end of January 2013. All ATMs and PoS terminals are EMV-compliant (HSBC,
2013). The BKM provides a national ATM and PoS network for debit cards issued by its
member banks. Banks also provide proprietary ATM networks.
Cards and Payments in Turkey
Turkey has a population of 75 million, over half of whom are under 30. The younger
generation uses the internet and mobile phones, so these technologies enable the banks to
address this segment, along with the over two million PoS devices. Turkey is a heavy credit
card using country, with 55 million credit cards. There are over 90 million debit cards but the
purchase volume is just 9% of that of the credit card volume.
Various banks have been making progress with several innovations, including contactless
payments, NFC, biometrics and mobile payments. The contactless initiative started in 2005,
when banks launched contactless cards to automate toll and bridge payments. Afterwards, Visa
and MasterCard contactless cards were launched. There are also contactless facilities on