What's New?
The Communiqué No. 2020/4 on the Procedures and Principles Regarding Fees Banks Can Charge Corporate Clients published on the Official Gazette No. 31035 dated February 10, 2020 ("Communiqué") was amended via the Official Gazette No. 31351 dated December 31, 2020. The amendment reflects the fees that banks can charge for banking transactions made via a new fund transfer system named Instant and Continuous Transfer System of Funds (Fonların Anlık ve Sürekli Transferi Sistemi) ("FAST"), which was introduced by the Central Bank of Turkey in November. FAST allows customers to instantly transfer money 24/7 between their bank accounts at different banks.
You may find our client alerts regarding the Communiqué here and the guideline for the implementation of the Communiqué here.
Recent Development
According to the amendments, FAST fees will be subject to the same rules as transactions executed through the electronic fund transfer system ("EFT").
Accordingly, for transactions made via FAST in an amount equal to or lower than TRY 1,000, the maximum fees applicable are:
- TRY 1 for transactions executed via mobile, internet banking services and regular payments;
- TRY 2 for transactions executed via ATM machines; and
- TRY 5 for transactions concluded through other means.
For transactions made via FAST in an amount between TRY 1,000 and TRY 50,000, the maximum fees applicable are:
- TRY 2 for transactions executed via mobile, internet banking services and regular payments;
- TRY 5 for transactions executed via ATM machines; and
- TRY 10 for transactions concluded through other means.
Lastly, for transactions made via FAST for amounts higher than TRY 50,000, the maximum fees applicable are:
- TRY 25 for transactions executed via mobile, internet banking services and regular payments;
- TRY 50 for transactions executed via ATM machines; and
- TRY 100 for transactions concluded through other means.
If these transactions are executed as "late transactions", which shall be defined under the agreement between the bank and the customer in accordance with the Communiqué, banks can increase the abovementioned fees by 50%. In addition, if FAST transactions are executed outside of the official working hours of the EFT payment system, banks can also increase the abovementioned maximum amounts by 50%.
The amendment also regulates that the maximum fees applicable to (i) transactions executed through EFT and FAST and (ii) documentation and information services can be annually increased at maximum by the yearly consumer price index increase rate published by the Turkey Statistical Institute for the previous year. Banks will announce these fees on their websites.
Conclusion
The amendments to the Communiqué aim to establish a legal infrastructure for the use of FAST and expand fast banking.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
