Amendments to the Compliance Deadlines in the Payment Services and Electronic Money Regulations

The Regulation on Amendments to the Regulation on Payment Services and Electronic Money Issuance and Payment Service Providers ("Amended Regulation") and Communiqué Amending the Communiqué on Information Systems of Payment and Electronic Money Institutions and Data Sharing Services of Payment Service Providers Within the Scope of Payment Services (“Amended Communiqué”) have entered into force as published in the Official Gazette dated September 28, 2024 and numbered 32676.

Changes have been made to Provisional Article 1 of the Regulation on Payment Services and Electronic Money Issuance and Payment Service Providers ("Regulation") with the Amended Regulation. This amendment extends the compliance deadlines for providers of account information services, payment initiation services, and digital wallet services.

Compliance Process for Account Information and Payment Initiation Service Providers

According to Article 59/5, titled “Principles Regarding Payment Initiation Service and Account Information Service” of the Regulation, relevant institutions must:

– connect to the Interbank Card Center A.Ş. ("BKM") API Gateway as per the principles determined by the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye ("CBRT") and provide the necessary software infrastructure for all other authorized payment service providers that request account information services and payment initiation services regarding the payment accounts under their control and

– take necessary precautions to prevent unauthorized access in order to prevent unauthorized provision of these services.

Pursuant to Provisional Article 1 of the Regulation, payment service providers that hold payment accounts as of December 1, 2021 and are among the top ten participants in terms of the total number of payment transactions made to the account in the payment systems operated by the CBRT in 2020 must fulfill their obligations under Article 59 of the Regulation until September 30, 2023.

For all other payment service providers holding payment accounts, this period is set as 1 year after the expiry of the abovementioned period. With the Amended Regulation, this period has been extended until March 31, 2025. With the Amended Communiqué, necessary amendments have been made in parallel with this extension.

Compliance Process for Digital Wallet Service Providers

The deadline for institutions providing digital wallet services before the enforcement of Article 4/A of the Regulation, which could be classified as payment institutions or electronic money institutions under Law No. 6493 on Payment and Securities Settlement Systems, Payment Services, and Electronic Money Institutions, to obtain the necessary permissions has been extended to April 7, 2025, with the Amended Regulation.

Institutions that hold an operating license and provide digital wallet services were required to comply with Article 4/A within 1 year from the date of entry into force of Article 4/A, but the Amended Regulation extended this period until April 7, 2025.