TURKEY Trends and Developments Contributed by: Sera Somay, Merve Kurdak and Doğa Pınarlı Dedebaş, Paksoy
Pursuant to the amendments introduced to the Pay - ment Services Law in January 2020, the authority to issue secondary legislation on payment services, as well as oversight powers including activity monitoring and the granting of operating licences, were trans - ferred from the BRSA to the CBRT. The Payment Services Law explicitly lists the activities that qualify as payment services. Such services may only be offered to persons residing in Türkiye by pay - ment institutions licensed by the CBRT. The licence granted by the CBRT is activity-specific, meaning that payment institutions are authorised to provide only those payment services expressly specified in their licence, rather than holding a general authorisation covering all payment services regulated under the law. In addition, the CBRT issued the Guideline on the Association of Business Models Offered in the Pay - ments Field with Payment Service Types in September 2022. This Guideline aims to map business models commonly encountered in the payments sector to the payment services regulated under the Payment Services Law and to clarify the type of authorisation required for each service. Accordingly, business models in the field of payment services include, among others: • Operation of payment accounts, including the opening of payment accounts, cash deposits and cash withdrawals • Money remittance services • Virtual POS services • Physical POS services • Issuance and acceptance of electronic money, including prepaid cards • Digital wallet services • Mobile payment services • Intermediation services for mobile payments As per the amendment made to the Payment Services Regulation in October 2023, digital wallet activities have been introduced into Turkish legislation for the first time, which explicitly defines the digital wallet as a payment instrument that may be provided by pay - ment service providers. Entities that were providing digital wallet services prior to the effective date of this
amendment, and that could be classified as payment institutions or electronic money institutions under the Payment Services Law but did not hold an operating licence, were required to apply to the CBRT and obtain the necessary authorisations by the end of 2025. 2.2 Payment and e-money institutions market in Türkiye Following the establishment of the regulatory frame - work, subsidiaries of incumbent banks as well as independent start-ups have begun to obtain licences to operate in the market, a process that is still ongo - ing. According to the most recent data published on the website of the CBRT, there are currently 63 elec - tronic money institutions and 23 payment institutions operating in Türkiye. 3. Crowdfunding (Peer-to-Peer Funding) 3.1 Regulatory framework One of the fintech models that has gained increas - ing prominence as an alternative financing method is crowdfunding. In Türkiye, peer-to-peer funding trans - actions are conducted through crowdfunding plat - forms, which allows funding of projects and venture companies by collecting funds from the public. Following the introduction of regulations on equity- based crowdfunding, the CMB issued Communiqué No. III-35/A.2 on Crowdfunding (“Crowdfunding Com - muniqué”) in October 2021, thereby providing a legal framework for both equity-based and debt-based crowdfunding models. Crowdfunding platforms are required to fulfil the statu - tory requirements set out under the applicable legisla - tion and obtain authorisation from the CMB. The Crowdfunding Communiqué sets out detailed rules regarding, inter alia, the establishment of plat - forms, membership principles, investment limits, mar - keting and promotion activities, as well as the permit - ted and prohibited activities of platforms. Platforms operating solely on an equity-based crowd - funding basis are prohibited from intermediating lend - ing or similar activities in return for interest or any other consideration, including those involving the taking of pledges, and from conducting crowdfunding activi -
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