Current Developments in the Fintech Ecosystem

Fintechs are increasing their significance in the finance sector gradually. These developments, which are closely followed by the Turkish authorities, also prompted the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB) to take action. The TCMB published amendments to the date of compliance with the legislation regulating the procedures and principles regarding the authorisation, activities and issuance of payment and electronic money institutions. Pursuant to this regulation dated 29 April 2023, the obligations to be fulfilled by payment and electronic money institutions until 30 June 2023 were regulated.

The latest development on the issue took place last June and TCMB amended the regulation on the compliance date for payment and electronic money institutions. On 27 June 2023, temporary article 1 of the Regulation Amending the Regulation on Payment Services and Electronic Money Issuance and Payment Service Providers (Amendment Regulation) and the Communiqué Amending the Communiqué on Information Systems of Payment and Electronic Money Institutions and Data Sharing Services of Payment Service Providers in the Field of Payment Services (Amendment Communiqué), which entered into force after being published in the Official Gazette, was amended and the compliance period for certain obligations was extended from 30 June 2023 to 30 September 2023.

In accordance with the Amendment Regulation, the obligations to be fulfilled until 30 September 2023 are as follows:

• Payment systems and payment service providers are required to comply with the remaining articles, except for the articles regulating the services that are not covered by the Law on Payment and Securities Settlement Systems, Payment Services and Electronic Money Institutions, and the protection of the funds collected against payment and electronic money of legal entities providing these services.
• Payment service providers that hold payment accounts since 1 December 2021 and are among the top ten participants according to the total number of transactions carried out in the Bank Payment Systems in 2020 are required to connect to the Bankalararası Kart Merkezi A.Ş. and provide the necessary infrastructure.
• It was allowed to continue to provide data sharing services, the technical requirements of which have been determined, by using non-standard services.
• Persons who obtained an operating permit prior to 1 December 2021 are required to comply with the non-applicable provisions of Regulation and the provisions of the regulations to be issued by TCMB regarding the management and audit of information systems.

In accordance with the Amendment Communiqué, the obligations to be fulfilled until 30 September 2023 are as follows:

• Payment service providers that have payment accounts since 1 December 2021 and are among the top ten participants in terms of the total number of payment transactions made in Bank Payment Systems in 2020, are required to connect to the BKM API Gateway and provide the necessary infrastructure.
• Similar to the above mentioned, it was allowed to continue to provide data sharing services, the technical requirements of which have been determined, by using non-standard services.

You can reach the full text of Amending Regulation here (only available in Turkish) and full text of Amending Communiqué here (only available in Turkish).

Tagged with: Gökçe, Görkem Gökçe, Yağmur Yollu, Fintech