All payment and electronic money institutions operating in Türkiye fall within the scope of the “Regulation on Payment Services, Electronic Money Issuance, Payment Institutions and Electronic Money Institutions”. Therefore, even if a foreign payment institution has obtained a license from foreign authorities to operate abroad, that license will not be sufficient for it to operate in Türkiye; it will need to obtain a license from the Central Bank, subject to all the rules that institutions in Türkiye are subject to.
Why is a foreign license not considered sufficient?
Licenses are country-based. The permission granted by a foreign authority has been assessed under that country's supervisory framework. If services are to be offered to users in Türkiye, the capital, information systems, internal control and reporting rules in Turkish legislation must also be met.
In practice, foreign institutions usually prefer to set up a company in Türkiye and obtain a license, or to work with a licensed local institution. In this model, responsibilities and data sharing must be clearly set out in the contract.
This question is one of the most common starting questions in cross-border fintech services.
