Can I Open a Bank Account in Turkey?

Yes you can. Before we get there,you need to be informed about the banks in Turkey. All the banks in Turkey work between monday and friday with the working hours of 09.00-17.00

Some banks remain open at lunch break,some not. Please see the working hours of each bank on their doors.

The top 5 banks in Turkey are :

1-) Turkiye İş Bankası

2-) Akbank

3-) Turkiye Garanti Bankası

4-) TC Ziraat Bankası

5-) Yapı Kredi Bankası

The procedure of opening a bank account in Turkey is:

  • You need to go to Tax Office and apply for ‘’ Foreigners Tax Number’’ which is in Turkish ‘’Yabancı Vergi Numarası’’ (In Alanya Tax Office,they are giving it on the first flor.)
  • Please make sure that you go to Tax Office with a copy of your passport. If you don’t have it with you,they will kindly ask you to go and copy it somewhere.
  • After 15 minutes of computer work,you get your tax number.
  • One day after you get your tax number,you can go to the bank and ask them to open an account for you.The bank asks you to fill the application form and asks you to undersign it.They also take 3 examples of your signature. After the system recognise your signature,you can put money in your account or draw money from any branch in the whole country.
  •  Congratulations,your account has been opened!In general the bank opens a current account for you where you can store or transfer money.From the same account,you can give ‘’Automatic Payment Order’’ to your bank for your electricity,water and internet bills.
  • As soon as you open your current account,you can ask the bank to make an ATM card allows you to access your account at the times the banks not operating and open internet banking account.
  • Remember that the banks in Turkey offering high interest on Turkish Lira savings and little interest on USD or EURO savings. The interest rates which banks are offering for Turkish liras are between 9-11 %.