Talking Turkey: Regulators Lower Credit Card Interest to Stimulate Economy
Brian Riley by Brian Riley
April 11, 2019
Turkey, with its population of 86 million is boarded by Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, plus the Mediterranean and Black Seas. The country has one of the largest bank card populations in the middle east region, according to the Turkish regulator agency, as Hurriyet Daily News reports. The economy, however, is beginning to slow down says the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The Turkish payment card market is progressive, with major banks such as Akbank, Garanti Bank, Yapi, DenizBank and TEB being early adopters of EMV and digital banking; the first payment wallet supposedly originated in that market. Turkey launched a domestic payment card to compete with Mastercard and Visa. Similar to other domestic payment schemes, such as Mir (Russia), RuPay (India), and Union Pay (China), Turkey’s Troy Card has international operability due to its bilateral arrangement with Discover Financial Services.
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