OPENING A BANK ACCOUNT IN TURKEY

Since February 24, 2022, a significant number of Ukrainians left for Turkey. In addition, several tens of thousands of our fellow citizens lived there before the start of large-scale hostilities on the territory of Ukraine as a result of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation. The vast majority of them need a bank account both for everyday life related to household expenses, receiving wages, etc., and for conducting business activities.

There are several advantages of having an account in the banks of the Republic of Turkey, namely:

• safe storage of funds in a stable Turkish or international bank;
• the possibility of opening it in different currencies (Turkish lira, US dollar, euro);
• receipt of preferential payments from the Turkish government;
• using the account to receive wages from Turkish employers;
• convenient and quick non-cash payment for services and goods;
• the use of technologically advanced Internet banking in order to speed up bank transactions and save personal time
• due to the absence of the need to visit bank branches for most issues that may arise for the client;
• availability of English-language versions of official websites and mobile applications of banks.

It is worth noting that the procedure for opening a bank account is different for individuals and legal entities.

Regarding individuals, what documents do they need to prepare before visiting a bank branch?

The general list is as follows:

• an identity document (as a rule, a passport of a citizen of Ukraine for traveling abroad);
• Vergi Numarasi (tax number issued by the Turkish Tax Service - Maliye Vergi Dairesi);
• Kısa Dönem İkamet İzni or Uzun Dönem İkamet İzni – residence permit in Turkey (its mandatory presence depends on the requirements of a specific banking institution);
• the mobile number of the Turkish operator - Vodafone, Turk Telecom, Turkcell (which will be used to confirm the customer's transactions).

For legal entities, the general procedure is as follows:

• obtaining a Turkish tax number for the company and from the Turkish tax service - Maliye Vergi Dairesi;
• implementation of a notarized translation of legal entity documents, copies of passports of the founder(s) and director of the legal entity into Turkish;
• a visit to a bank branch by a company representative, submission of the appropriate package of documents for opening a corporate account, concluding a contract, obtaining relevant details, online banking registration, etc.

Thus, having an open bank account in Turkey is rather a necessity for both individuals and legal entities, because most of the payments are made through non-cash payments, and Turkish banks provide relatively good conditions for their individual and corporate clients, both when opening accounts, as well as during their maintenance.