Turkey launches new card payment system, TROY
Dr Soner Canko, Interbank Card Center (BKM)
Turkey has introduced its own card payment system, called TROY, and the nation is setting its sights on becoming a cashless society by 2023.
Speaking at the launch, Dr Soner Canko, general manager of the Interbank Card Center (BKM) in Turkey, said: “Many countries around the world, from Canada and Italy to South Korea and India, have their own payment systems and now Turkey has taken its place among them.”
TROY has completed its first transaction and Canko says all POS terminals, ATMs and e-commerce websites in Turkey are ready for the cards and further transactions.
Canko says: “We gave it the acronym TROY, taking the ‘TR’ from Turkey, the ‘O’ from ‘Ödeme’, the Turkish word for ‘payment’, and the ‘Y’ from ‘Yöntem’, the Turkish word for ‘method’.”
He also has some targets for the future: “We aspire to create a cashless society by 2023. In the future, when we look back to today, we shall remember with pride this meaningful moment when Turkey’s Payment Method [TROY] was launched.”
Minor to major
In February this year, Dublin-based Research and Markets published its “Turkey Cards and Payments Market – Size, Share, Development, Growth and Forecast to 2020” report.
The firm says in terms of number of cards in circulation, the Turkish payment cards market grew at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 7.2% during the period 2012-2014 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.4% over the period 2015-2020.
It says the growth in e-commerce, increase in internet and mobile penetration and higher disposable income per capita supported the growth of number of cards in circulation in the country.
The number of POS terminals increased from 2.1 million in 2012 to 2.4 million in 2014, and is expected to “grow significantly during the forecast period due to the expansion of retail sector”.
The number of ATM terminals increased from 36,334 in 2012 to 47,545 in 2014.
In Turkey, debit cards dominate the payment card market in terms of the number of cards in circulation, according to Research and Markets.
In 2014, debit cards accounted for 65.2% of the total number of cards in circulation in Turkey. By scheme, the number of debit cards in circulation was dominated by Visa. Average debit card transaction value increased from TRY 237.9 ($84.6) in 2012 to TRY 244.9 ($87) in 2014, at a CAGR of 1.4%.
Research and Markets says credit card transactions were encouraged by growth in payment infrastructure such as POS and ATM terminals, advanced card features such as EMV technology, and promotional strategies such as cashback offers and reward programs.
It says credit cards are primarily used by customers at POS terminals for retail purchases, rather than for cash withdrawals at ATMs. In 2014, value of transactions at POS terminals accounted for 91.5% of total credit card transactions in the country.
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