Banking Services

Turkey represents a robust an powerful banking system which is politically independent from Europe, The United States, China and Russia, and even the Arab world, which makes it a gateway for trade between these powers this means that having an account in a Turkish Bank is a sort of political risk insurance policy for your money.

It is not a secret that Covid-19 increased the risk of banks freezing money and governments are increasingly using political sanctions to justify bank freezing. Turkey does not bow to this pressure and is itself a powerful OECD partner. So, as long as you play by Turkish rules to hold your money, you can be relatively safe from interference. In other words, Turkish banks don’t need or rely on correspondent banking relationships with the other superpowers and therefore present an ideal banking diversification strategy.

As an example, there are sanctions from the US Federal Reserve or limitations by China. For family offices, this presents an ideal area for fiscal diversification via holding bank accounts through their branch, subsidiary or corporate offices. The Turkish Banking system has become even more open to foreigners recently by offering one of the world’s top citizenship by investment options whereby you can buy a property and acquire a Turkish passport (see our passport section) and have your personal and corporate bank account as a Turkish Citizen.

Due to Turkey’s position as an independent political, military, and trading power its banking system cannot be bullied by the other superpowers, so your bank account and corporate interests in turkey are safe from black or grey listing. With the right corporate structure and the right Turkish bank account, you have the advantages of a white-listed OECD member with substance whilst having some of the tax optimization opportunities that the traditional offshore countries used to provide. With the Citizenship package you also gain the kind of banking protection that only citizens can access. It is the best of all worlds in one of the oldest trading and banking civilization on Earth. 

Istanbul, Turkey's second-largest city, is one of the five most important financial capitals in the world. And when it comes to the Turkish miracle of recent years, the banking sector has played a leading role in this process.

Turkey has made a great effort to modernize its financial sector. And this has paid off. Today, this sector is an example in the world of automation, digitalization, modernization and credit opportunities.

The basic idea behind this system is simple. Do you have a good idea and want to implement it? Do you want to expand your business into new markets? Do you want to invest in a new and unexplored sector? Well, if you follow the right steps, the Turkish banking system will give you credit to keep doing good business.

We offer products especially tailored for avid investors. Why should someone who wants to enhance their business freedom would open a bank account in Turkey? Let’s walk you through some of the reasons.

Reason 1: Turkey is both a geographical and financial crossroads. It enjoys good business relationships with Russia, China, the US, and most of the Middle East. That means that if you have business interests in both Russia and the US, Turkey can serve as your financial bridge between worlds.

Reason 2: A little secret: You can set up a representative office in Turkey tax-free. Thus, you can open a corporate bank account and hold your funds in Turkey without paying taxes. Tax optimization at its best. We can prepare a special package for you that includes:

• A parent company located at a top jurisdiction (Nevis, Panama, Hong Kong, etc.)
• A RO or branch office in Turkey
• A corporate bank account in Turkey

Reason 3: We can help you open a bank account remotely. You send us the required documents, a power of attorney, and we take care of the rest. As simple as that.

Reason 4: Most of the largest banks in Turkey are foreign-owned. There are 51 banks in Turkey, of which 28 are foreign-owned. BNP Paribas, BBVA, Sberbank, and Unicredit are present in Turkey.

Reason 5: Foreign citizens don’t have limitations to open corporate bank accounts in Turkey and they can do this remotely. Istanbul is a top financial center with excellent corporate and banking facilities. It attracts most of Turkey’s foreign investment.

Reason 6: Turkey is, by far, one of the countries with the most and best free zones in the world. Some of them offer full corporate tax exemption, social security deductions, and more interesting tax breaks. You can read about them in our corporate section.

Reason 7: If you’re worried about the Turkish Lira instability, you can open accounts in USD and EUR easily. We work with some of the best banks in Turkey, including foreign-owned banks, state-owned banks, and local privately-owned banks. 

Reason 8: There are no currency controls in Turkey. There is free currency policy in the country, thus, there is no limit in the funds coming in and going out of the country. The only need is verifying the funds of business operations (invoices and loan agreements, for example).

Reason 9: We can help you open investment, brokerage, and FOREX accounts in Turkey, although they have some requirements. More on that ahead.

Reason 10: After incorporating a corporate structure in Turkey, opening a bank accounts takes just one day. And if you appoint a Turkish nominee director, it can be done in one day.

Our job in Mundo is helping you know what those correct steps are and to guide you in the process of applying for credit, opening accounts and entering the extraordinary and modern banking sector of Turkey.

If you want to know more details about the banking sector in Turkey, check the Central Bank’s website.

Representative office in Turkey

As you saw in our package, we can help you establish a representative office in Turkey. You can read our corporate article right here for detailed information, but we need to explain a bit about what a RO can do in Turkey.

The Activities of Representative Office can be as follows:

Representation and hospitality: Representation of foreign companies in the sector and in relevant organizations, coordination and organization of business contacts of foreign companies in Turkey, fulfilling the office needs of those people.

Technical Support: Providing training or technical support to distributors, providing support services to supplier manufacturers to increase their quality standards

Control and audit of suppliers in Turkey: in terms of quality and standards, and supplier procurement.

Communication and information exchange: Exchanging and providing information to be forwarded to foreign companies which have business relations with Turkey, in affairs such as market developments, consumer trends, competitors 'and distributors' sales, the performance of the distributor companies, etc.

Regional management center:  Providing coordination and management services regarding activities such as creating investment and management strategies, planning, representation, sales, after-sales services, brand management, financial management, technical support, R&D, external procurement, testing of newly developed products, laboratory services, analysis and research, training of employees etc.

Market research:  The Treasury grants this permission for approximately a period of 3 years and then has the right to prolong. However, it is important to document this service.

Promotion of the products and services of the foreign company: The Treasury grants this permission for approximately a period of 3 years and then has the right to prolong. However, it is important to document this service.

Representation and Entertainment: Representation of the foreign company before the industrial organizations and in relevant events, coordination and organization of the business contacts of the officials of the foreign company in Turkey, meeting the office usage needs for them.

A liaison/representative office is not required to bring capital into Turkey. However, the expenditures of a liaison office, such as the payment of salaries, must be brought from abroad in foreign currency.

This is because a liaison office cannot engage in any Commercial activity and cannot obtain income or transfer money abroad from Turkey. As a result, a liaison Office does not pay income or corporate taxes. However, it must keep records of all of its expenditures and revenues, which are transferred from the parent company.

Banking environment in Turkey

The Banking Law, which entered into force on November 1, 2005, and the secondary legislation that came into force under it, regulates the establishment of banks and the commencement and undertaking of banking activities in Turkey. The Banking Law is (among others) applicable to (i) banks established in Turkey, (ii) branches of foreign banks in Turkey, (iii) representative offices of foreign banks in Turkey, and (iv) financial holding companies.

Read the banking law here.

The regulating authority for the banking sector in Turkey is the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA), a public legal entity with administrative and financial autonomy that was established in June 1999 and started its operations in 2000.

Under the Banking Law, only certain types of banks can be established in Turkey. These are deposit banks, participation banks, and development and investment banks. Both the establishment and the commencement of operations of a bank require permits from the BRSA.

How to open a bank account in Turkey?

In detail, the opening procedures of a bank account for foreigners varies from bank to bank. While taking not long in some banks, it can be the opposite in another.

We can help you open a corporate bank account remotely. The first is providing your tax identification number, which we will already have if you opened the company through us.

Some banks will also require valid Turkish identification (like a work or residence permit) to open your checking or a savings account. This policy varies across banks, and even across the different branches of a given bank. However, you won’t have any problems opening an account with our partner banks.

The legal procedures and principles to be able for a foreign company to open a corporate bank account in Turkey are:

• A director owning signature authority must open the corporate account.
• A tax number needs to be procured from the tax office for the company. The company, for which a bank account is to be opened, does not need to be in Turkey or run financial activities in Turkey. It is sufficient to have a correspondence address.
• To open an account, the designated company director needs to go to the bank and provide:

• Passport
• Tax number
• Articles of association
• Trade registration

And that’s it! Depending on the nature of the company, the bank may ask for additional documents (for example, if the company is dedicated to a licensed activity). All company documents must be translated and approved by the notary or consulate.

This process will be handled by our experts. To open a corporate bank account remotely in Turkey, you would need to appoint a nominee director (our experts provide this service) that can handle the process in person. If not, you would need to ship your passport to Turkey so the bank can copy it or go to the bank in Turkey personally.

If you allow us to handle this, opening the corporate bank account is a simple, one day process.

Banking Opportunities

It is worth mentioning that you can choose to open accounts in the local and foreign currencies according to your needs. Internet and mobile banking are widespread in Turkey. Your bank will provide you with a username to access the e-banking platform, from which you can perform a broad range of transactions. Gladly, most Turkish banks provide e-banking services in English for foreigners.

Still, any money you have deposited in any of the large banks in Turkey will be protected if the bank goes bankrupt. The maximum protection will be TRY100,000 (US$28,000) per customer in the bank. This means that if you have an account or several accounts in the bank that has gone bankrupt, the limit is TRY100,000. If, though, he had accounts in several banks, he would be covered at TRY100,000 for each bank.

You will also need to register a mobile phone if you want to access online banking services. The process depends on the bank, but it shouldn’t take longer than a few weeks to receive your bank card.

Banking services

Turkish banks offer a wide range of financial services (for residents and non-residents), and most of the larger banks also provide business and corporate banking services. Personal services include:

• Current accounts. This type of account is typically used for day-to-day banking and providing easy access to your money. Most banks give you the option of having accounts in Turkish Lira or foreign currencies – and the ability to transfer funds between them and to other accounts in and outside Turkey. Current account facilities include ATM cards, phone banking, and internet banking. Interest paid on current accounts is typically low, and charges apply to some transactions (check with your bank).
• Savings/deposit accounts. These have been very popular with ex-pats, mainly because of competitive interest rates. The days of 30% may well be over, but it is possible to get deposit accounting attracting interests close to 12%. Don’t forget that deposit accounts attract a withholding tax. The rate you get will depend on the amount you invest and the time you spend it.

Also, remember that there are restrictions on account withdrawals and accessing your funds: if you withdraw cash during the investment period, you will usually lose the accrued interest.

• Brokerage, investment, and FOREX accounts: These kind of accounts are subject to an initial permission from the BDDK, the banking authority in Turkey. In this case, we would recommend the structure to be an LLC or Joint Stock Company because there are very high capital contribution requirements. These structures are allowed to make any kind of commercial and production activities in Turkey.

The benefits are attractive, including bill payments, receiving money from abroad such as pensions, or like most ex-pats, the savings interest rates are too lucrative to ignore. For example, many ex-pats live in Turkey without touching their capital by putting their money in time deposit accounts, of which interest rates may reach 15%!

The modern banking system in Turkey is all you need to give your business a big boost. It can help you move your money freely from all over the world without exceptions. It is a swift, straightforward process.

Knowing its advantages and disadvantages in depth will make it clear to you what are your best opportunities for doing business. Contact us, and we will guide you through the whole process!

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