According to Article 13 of Law No. 6493 on Payment and Securities Settlement Systems, Payment Services and Electronic Money Institutions, the institutions listed below can provide payment services.
ARTICLE 13 – (1) Under this Law,
a) Banks within the scope of Law No. 5411,
b) Electronic money institutions,
c) Payment institutions,
ç) (Added: 17/4/2017-Decree Law No. 690, Art. 68; Adopted as is: 1/2/2018-Law No. 7077, Art. 58) Posta ve Telgraf Teşkilatı Anonim Şirketi (PTT),
¹ With Article 8 of Law No. 7192 dated 12/11/2019, the phrase “by the Board” in this subparagraph was changed to “by the Bank”.
are payment service providers.
(2) Persons other than banks and payment service providers may not provide payment services.
The details of the Law can be accessed from the link below:
https://www.tcmb.gov.tr/wps/wcm/connect/TR/TCMB+TR/Main+Menu/Banka+Hakkinda/Mevzuat/6493/
The purpose of this restriction
Since payment services directly touch people's money, the law leaves them only to licensed and supervised institutions. This ensures minimum standards for users' funds, information security and operational resilience.
Providing payment services without a license is subject to sanctions. That is why a fintech startup should assess from the outset whether its business model counts as a payment service and, if necessary, proceed by working with banks or acting as the agent of an authorized institution.
Since authority in the regulatory field can change over time, the guides and announcements published by the currently competent authority should be followed.
