The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey ("Central Bank") amended the Communiqué on the Procedures and Principles Regarding the Bank Fees Chargeable to Business Customers ("Communiqué"), which was published in the Official Gazette dated December 31, 2020 and numbered 31351. In this article, we will focus on the changes to the bank fees chargeable to business customers introduced through amendments to the Communiqué.

I. What is New?

The amendment to the Communiqué mirrors the fees that banks can charge their business customers for the transactions made through the Central Bank`s new fund transfer system named Instant and Continuous Fund Transfer System ("FAST"). FAST, which became operational on January 8, 2021, enables banking customers to instantly transfer their funds between accounts at different banks, 24/7 and banks to deliver the transaction results to the parties of the transaction instantly. Thanks to FAST it is now possible to make money transfers outside of the working hours and it enables banking customers to transfer money within seconds as well as receivers to use transferred funds instantly. 

"Business customers" subject to this article are defined as "those Turkish residents (except for financial consumers) to whom the banks provide products and services" in the amendment.

After the amendments, the fees applicable to transactions carried out via FAST has become subject to the same rules as the transactions made through the electronic fund transfer system ("EFT").

In light of this, the maximum fees, applied to the transactions executed through FAST will be as follows:

For transaction amounts equal to or less than TRY 1,000.-:

  • TRY 1 for transactions made through mobile, internet banking services and standing orders;
  • TRY 2 for transactions made through ATMs;
  • TRY 5 for transactions made through other channels.

For transaction amounts between TRY 1,000.- and TRY 50,000.-:

  • TRY 2 for transactions made through mobile, internet banking services and standing orders;
  • TRY 5 for transactions made through ATMs;
  • TRY 10 for transactions made through other channels.

For transactions with amounts exceeding TRY 50,000.-:

  • TRY 25 for transactions made through mobile, internet banking services and standing orders;
  • TRY 50 for transactions made through ATMs; and
  • TRY 100 for transactions made through other channels.

If the transactions via FAST are performed as "late transactions," as defined in the agreement executed between the bank and its customers (provided that the transaction is made 90 minutes before the official closing time at the earliest), the foregoing maximum fee limits will be increased by 50%. Additionally, if the transactions via FAST are made outside the official business hours of the EFT payment system, the maximum fee limits will again be applied with an increase of 50%.

Lastly, the amendment stipulates that the maximum fees applied to (i) transactions made via the EFT and FAST payment systems, and (ii) banking document and information services, can be increased annually, by up to the annual consumer price index increase rate published by the Turkish Statistical Institute for the previous year. The increased fees are to be announced by the banks on their websites.

II. Conclusion

The Central Bank's new fund transfer system, FAST, has been put into operation very recently, to help Turkish banks to meet the needs of their clients in the digital age. The introduction of this new service and the fees that the banks will be able to charge are thus reflected the relevant Communiqués.

This article was first published in Legal Insights Quarterly by ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law in March 2021. A link to the full Legal Insight Quarterly may be found here

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