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Legal Alerts
09/06/2022

Changes to Bank Fees

Legal Alerts
Banking & Finance
Financial Institutions

The amendments to the Communiqué No. 2020/4 on the Procedures and Principles Regarding Fees that Banks Can Charge Corporate Clients (“Fee Communiqué“) and the Communiqué No. 2020/7 on the Procedures and Principles Regarding Fees Charged to Financial Consumers (“Financial Consumers Communiqué“) entered into force through their publication in the Official Gazette No. 31658 dated 13 November 2021.

Please see our previous client alerts below regarding the Fee Communiqué and Financial Consumers Communiqué:

Updates to Banking Fees
2021 Off To a “FAST” Start
Central Bank Issues Guidelines: Clarifying Bank Fees and Commissions
Updates to Turkish Bank Fees and Commissions Limits
Changes to Prepayment Fee Limits
Updates on Turkish Banks’ Utilization Fees and Prepayment Fees
New Limits on Turkish Bank Fees and Commissions

What’s New?

Amendments to the Fee Communiqué include the following:

  • The fees that Turkish banks can charge commercial clients now include the “Merchant Payments by Transfer Fee”.
  • “Merchant Payments by Transfer” was defined as “transactions whose good and service fee is collected through FAST transactions or transfer in accordance with the agreement concluded by and between the commercial client and the bank”.
  • “Commercial Client” was defined as “persons residing in Turkey other than financial consumers as defined in the Financial Consumers Communiqué“.
  • The transferor will not be charged any fees for merchant payments by transfer.
  • For the purchase of goods and services within the scope of  the Fee Communiqué, the provisions and limitations applicable to the transfer of a transaction amount to the merchant, other than the requirement to transfer the transaction amount at the latest by the day following the transaction, will apply to merchant payments by transfer as well.

Amendments to the Financial Consumers Communiqué include the following:

  • “Merchant Payments by Transfer” was added and defined by referencing the definition in the Fee Communiqué.
  • The transferor will not be charged any fees for merchant payments by transfer.

Conclusion

The term “Merchant Payments by Transfer” and applicable provisions were added to the Fee Communiqué and Financial Consumers Communiqué.