Opening a Bank Account in Turkey

Individuals who have reached the age of 18 can open a bank account in the Republic of Turkey with just a passport or a residence card. In addition, a permanent residence and a tax identification number are required. Click on this link to get information on how to obtain a tax identification number. Although those under the age of 18 can open an account with parental permission, banks do not do this in reality. There are many banks in Turkey and some of them operate online. We will give you some advice and account advice.

It is possible to open an account with a passport at Zıraat Bank. For this, in addition to a passport, you need a tax identification number and a permanent place of residence. It can be said that the branches are not very knowledgeable about opening accounts for foreign citizens with just a passport and tax identification number. Therefore, if you have a friend who has opened an account in a branch before, it is advisable to open it from that branch.

1. The bank your university works with . In Turkey, every bank works with a university. Online payment of tuition fees, payment of social services such as canteens, gyms, etc. is possible with banks that have an agreement with the university. If you are a university student, it is easy to open an account in these banks.

2. Ziraat Bank. Since Ziraat Bank has branches in Azerbaijan, it is useful for money transfers. At the same time, since it is a state bank, it is very useful for payments to state institutions such as taxes, municipalities, etc.

3. State banks. Ziraat, Vakıf and Halkbank . Having an account in any of these banks is useful for making payments to the state institutions mentioned above. It is a bit difficult to open an account in Halkbank among these three banks. If your university does not have an agreement with that bank, don't waste your time, they will not open an account.

4. İş Bankası, Yapı Kredi banks. They are the most widely used banks among private banks. It is easy to open an account but money transfer prices are expensive. They have very good mobile applications.

5. Enpara . Enpara does not have a physical branch, it uses its branches since it is a branch of QNB Finansbank. It has a very good banking system. They do not deduct money from money transfers. Customer service is very operative, the mobile application is very simple. Most importantly, it does not charge a commission on money coming from Azerbaijan via card to card. You can also put the Turkish Lira you have in your hand at daily interest. Opening a bank account is also online. We recommend all students to open an account with this bank.

6. Papara . It is an application like Enpara, but has been operating since 2021.

7. Hadi . Hadi system is a profitable online account for those who shop at A101 markets. It offers 3% cash back on purchases but does not offer refunds over 125 TL.