Launching payments in Türkiye: the stack

By Polynopsis team · Last updated 29 October 2026

Paying out in Türkiye means delivering Turkish lira to bank accounts, cards or e-money wallets: FAST settles transfers 24/7 within seconds up to TRY 300,000 each since 26 August 2026, and larger amounts move over EFT on weekdays from 08:30 to 17:30. Cross-border payment companies typically use payout networks such as Thunes, TerraPay, dLocal, Nium or UPT, alongside CBRT-licensed payment and e-money institutions, while the CBRT bars the use of crypto assets in payments.

Currency	TRY
Local payout rails	FAST (Instant and Continuous Transfer of Funds), EFT and EMKT
Holiday calendar	Türkiye bank holidays 2026 and 2027

The Türkiye market

Türkiye received US$761 million in personal remittances in 2025 (0.05% of GDP), down from US$982 million in 2024 (World Bank data, last updated 8 October 2026). source
FAST processed 5.4 billion transactions worth TRY 43.23 trillion in 2025, an average of 14.8 million messages and TRY 118.46 billion a day. source
Transactions through EFT, together with delivery-versus-payment transactions across EFT and EMKT, totalled TRY 932.11 trillion in 2025. source
Card payments in July 2026 totalled TRY 2,974.9 billion, up 37% on July 2025, with online card payments of TRY 908.9 billion and four in five in-store card payments made contactless (BKM). source
Sending EUR 140 from Germany to Türkiye cost 4.01% on average in Q3 2025 (average fee EUR 4.36, exchange rate margin 0.90%). source

Licensing: who can pay out in Türkiye

The CBRT authorises payment institutions and electronic money institutions and supervises and oversees their activities, under Law No. 6493. source
The CBRT's register lists 20 active payment institutions (read 28 October 2026), including Western Union Turkey Ödeme Hizmetleri and MoneyGram Turkey Ödeme Hizmetleri, with each institution's licensed services set out by letter of Article 12 of Law No. 6493. source
The CBRT's register lists 55 active electronic money institutions (read 28 October 2026), including UPT Ödeme Hizmetleri ve Elektronik Para, İyzi Ödeme ve Elektronik Para, Sipay, Turkcell Ödeme and Vodafone Elektronik Para. source
Under the CBRT's Regulation on the Disuse of Crypto Assets in Payments, in force since 30 April 2021, crypto assets cannot be used directly or indirectly in payments, and payment and e-money institutions cannot intermediate fund transfers to or from crypto asset platforms. source
Crypto asset service providers fall under the Capital Markets Board (SPK); its list of providers that declared they would operate is a temporary list, and the SPK states that inclusion does not mean a provider is authorised. source

This page explains the rules in general terms and is not legal or regulatory advice. Check the primary source and take advice on how the rules apply to your firm.

Payout rails in Türkiye

Rail	Operator	What matters for payouts	Source
FAST (Instant and Continuous Transfer of Funds)	Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye	Instant payment system launched on 8 January 2021; since 26 August 2026 its limit for money transfers and Request-to-Pay payments is TRY 300,000 per transaction, up from TRY 100,000.	source
EFT and EMKT	Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye	CBRT payment systems operate on weekdays, except public holidays, from 08:30 to 17:30, and until 13:00 on half working days; FAST, a separate system, accepts payment orders 7x24 and completes them within seconds.	source

The Türkiye payments stack, layer by layer

The providers below are a starting shortlist for each layer, described from their own documentation. Confirm terms, coverage and licences with each provider.

Payout and collection partners

Provider	What it does in Türkiye	Source
Thunes · our guide	Money transfer API supports TRY direct bank transfers to Türkiye cleared through FAST, to TRY-denominated accounts only with strict beneficiary name matching, plus mobile wallet transfers.	source
TerraPay · our guide	Its network page lists Turkey for bank payouts in TRY, USD and EUR.	source
dLocal · our guide	Payouts API sends bank transfers by IBAN and wallet transfers in Türkiye for B2C, B2B and P2P flows, funded in TRY or USD and always paid to the beneficiary in local currency.	source
Nium · our guide	Pays TRY to all banks in Türkiye from a listed set of remitter countries: transactions below TRY 300,000 go through FAST 24/7 in real time and larger ones in real time subject to a 16:00 Türkiye time cut-off, up to TRY 3,000,000 per transaction.	source
UPT	Aktif Bank's money transfer and payment platform, operating in 14 countries and providing transfers to Türkiye and between countries through more than 200 business partners.	source

Local banking and settlement accounts

Provider	What it does in Türkiye	Source
Aktif Bank	Private investment bank whose Aktif Ventures runs a 807-API platform (2024) and whose N Kolay digital platform offers international money transfers.	source
Kuveyt Türk	Its API Market team handles open banking, API banking, embedded banking, banking-as-a-service and fintech collaborations.	source

Stablecoin ramps and exchanges

Provider	What it does in Türkiye	Source
BtcTurk \| Kripto	Appears on the SPK's temporary list of crypto asset service providers, which the SPK states is not an authorisation; accepts TRY deposits from bank accounts in the customer's own name, automatically and 24/7 from seven banks and over FAST within FAST limits, with EFT for larger amounts within bank EFT hours.	source
Paribu	Appears on the SPK's temporary list of crypto asset service providers, which the SPK states is not an authorisation; pays TRY withdrawals only to individual demand accounts in the customer's own name, up to TRY 15,000,000 a day, with amounts within FAST limits arriving in minutes and larger ones completed by EFT on the next business day.	source

FX and liquidity

Provider	What it does in Türkiye	Source
CBRT indicative exchange rates	Set every business day and posted at 15:30, then published in the Official Gazette the next day; the rates bind no one but the CBRT can use them for cashier and certain accounting transactions the next business day.	source
CBRT FX markets	Banks trade in the CBRT's FX markets from 10:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 15:30 on business days (10:00 to 11:00 on half days); the FX-against-banknotes market has a minimum of US$50,000.	source

KYC and KYB providers

Provider	What it does in Türkiye	Source
ParamTech idNext	Digital KYC that reads the ID card chip by NFC, checks biometric liveness and cross-references official databases such as NVI (MERNIS), with a MASAK-compliant video call flow for exceptions.	source
Enqura EnQualify	Identity verification with AI-enhanced OCR, NFC chip verification, face verification, liveness detection and live video identification.	source
uqudo	Verifies the Turkish national identity card (T.C. Kimlik) and passports, including NFC chip reading and verification.	source
IHS Teknoloji KYB	Verifies legal entities' commercial details against MERSİS and the Turkish Trade Registry Gazette, with separate KYC on authorised signatories.	source

Bank data and open banking

Provider	What it does in Türkiye	Source
BKM GEÇİT	Open banking gateway built by the Interbank Card Center as the common infrastructure for account information and payment initiation services; banks began serving through it on 1 December 2022.	source
Garanti BBVA open banking	Lets retail, small business, SME and commercial customers view balances and transactions of accounts and cards held at other banks in its mobile and internet banking.	source
Ziraat Bankası open banking	Provides account information and payment initiation services for individual and corporate customers across accounts held at other institutions.	source

Funding and prefunding TRY payouts

FAST transfers are capped at TRY 300,000 each since 26 August 2026 (TRY 100,000 before), so larger payouts depend on EFT. source
EFT and the other CBRT payment systems run only on weekdays outside public holidays, from 08:30 to 17:30 and until 13:00 on half working days, while FAST runs 7x24. source
In the CBRT's TRY-against-FX market, open to banks from 10:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 15:30 with a minimum of US$1,000,000 or EUR 1,000,000, US dollar trades can settle same day, next day or spot, and euro trades next day or spot. source
dLocal accepts TRY or USD as the source currency for Turkish payouts but always pays the beneficiary in local currency. source
The CBRT posts its indicative rates at 15:30 each business day, and they can be used by the CBRT for cashier and certain accounting transactions on the following business day. source

Size the prefund to your runway target with the corridor runway calculator and the Türkiye holiday calendar.

Launch checklist

Plan: launch volume, the prefund sized to your runway target including weekends and holidays, the contracting entity and the funding route.
Open accounts: shortlist payout partners and a local banking route from the layers above, and prepare the onboarding pack.
Set up: read access to every new balance, a runway target with alerts, and the corridor in your daily reports.
Go live: the first prefund and a test payout, then daily monitoring.

Polynopsis turns this into one plan with named approvals, then shows every Türkiye partner, bank and wallet in one live position. See how a corridor launch works.

Frequently asked questions

How fast are lira payouts in Türkiye?

FAST completes transfers within seconds, 7x24, up to TRY 300,000 per transaction since 26 August 2026. Larger amounts go over EFT, which runs on weekdays from 08:30 to 17:30.

Who licenses payment and e-money companies in Türkiye?

The CBRT, under Law No. 6493. Its registers list 20 payment institutions and 55 e-money institutions, including Western Union Turkey, MoneyGram Turkey and UPT.

Can stablecoins be used to fund payouts in Türkiye?

Not as a payment. CBRT rules bar crypto assets in payments and stop payment and e-money institutions from intermediating transfers to or from crypto platforms, and the SPK's list of crypto providers is a temporary list that does not mean authorisation.

What currency does the beneficiary receive?

Usually Turkish lira. dLocal always pays in local currency and Thunes only pays TRY-denominated accounts, while TerraPay lists bank payouts in TRY, USD and EUR.

Is open banking available in Türkiye?

Yes. Banks began offering account information and payment initiation through BKM's GEÇİT gateway on 1 December 2022, and banks such as Garanti BBVA and Ziraat Bankası show customers' balances held at other banks.

Other markets

Sources

Know where all your money is.

Polynopsis gives cross-border payment teams one live position across every bank, payout partner, exchange and wallet, including money in flight, and warns before a corridor runs dry.

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About Polynopsis

Polynopsis is liquidity management software for cross-border payment companies. The name joins poly, many, and synopsis, a seeing together: one live view of money spread across many banks, payout partners, exchanges and stablecoin wallets, including money in flight, with a warning before any corridor runs dry.

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