Historic record in credit cards...

Payments made by credit card grew by 12 percent in 2016 compared with the previous year, reaching 587 billion liras. According to data from the Interbank Card Center (BKM), the total number of debit and credit cards in Türkiye was found to have risen to 176 million. This figure is more than twice Türkiye's population and was regarded as an indication that each person holds at least two cards.

•One in every four purchases was made with a debit card.
•A total of 53 card payment transactions per person were carried out.
•With cards, in order, the most payments were made for grocery-food, fuel, clothing, insurance, and public-tax payments.

Interbank Card Center (BKM) General Manager Soner Canko said: "The card payment volume grew by 12 percent in TL terms in 2016 compared with the previous year. Card spending, which stood at 526 billion liras in 2015, reached 587 billion liras last year."

At a press conference he held, Canko assessed the developments in the payment systems field in 2016.

Regarding 2016, Canko said: "I have never seen a year, a calendar year, spoken about so badly in its aftermath. You too know about the events at the end of the year. There were competitions to say bad things about 2016."

Noting that in 2016 people said a little more "bye bye" to cash in payments, that the mobile habit increased somewhat further, and that important steps were taken in financial technology, Canko said Türkiye closed 2016 with 176 million plastic cards and 3 percent growth, and that it once again was Europe's number-one card market.

Stating that card payment volume grew by 12 percent in Turkish lira terms in 2016 compared with the previous year, Canko reported that card spending, which was 526 billion liras in 2015, reached 587 billion liras last year.

Pointing out that in 2016, 5.5 billion transactions were carried out with cards at POS terminals and ATMs, and that this figure amounted to 15 million daily, Canko said: "In 2015 we had carried out 5 billion transactions. This means that we grew digital payments in our country by 10 percent compared with the previous year."

Noting that the transaction volume with cards was 1.2 trillion liras in 2016, Canko reported that this figure was 1 trillion liras in 2015 and that 15 percent growth was recorded from 2015 to 2016.

"One in every 4 purchases was made with a debit card"

Soner Canko said that the share of purchases made with commercial cards within total purchases reached 20.7 percent, and the purchase amount reached 111 billion liras.

Canko noted that debit cards reached their all-time highest popularity in 2016, that the number of purchase transactions made with these cards rose to 1 billion 86 million, and that their share within total payments reached 26 percent.

Canko stated that 1 in every 4 purchases was made with a debit card, which also meant that life was no longer as credit-driven as before and that existing savings were being used more.

Recalling that the total number of card payment transactions per person was 19 in 2005, Canko noted that this figure reached 53 in 2016 and said: "In 2005 there were almost no transactions made with debit cards. Only one of these 19 transactions was made with debit cards. At the point we have reached today, 14 of the 53 transactions have come to be made with debit cards."

Canko stated that the share of card payments within total consumption expenditure rose from around 30 percent in 2010 to the 40s in 2016.

Providing the information that, when card purchases were examined on a sectoral basis, the sector showing the greatest increase in 2016 was the private pension system (BES), Canko said: "Such an increase that I have never seen a sector grow like this before. With 84 percent growth, BES payments took the lion's share, on a sectoral basis, within total card spending."

Canko underlined that the second was public and tax payments with 72 percent growth, the third was the insurance sector with 25 percent growth, and that the food and healthcare sectors took 4th and 5th place.

Reporting that, when looking at the declining sectors, jewellery topped them with 8 percent, Canko recalled that, in this respect, the other sectors were accommodation and travel, along with the electronic goods sector, with a contraction of 1 percent.

Canko said that in 2016 growth in grocery and food was 11 percent, in fuel 4 percent, and in clothing 9 percent.

Noting that the 4 percent growth in fuel caught their attention, Canko stated that the oil costs in dollar terms, which fell during the year, were positively reflected in purchases on this matter.

"E-commerce handed over its place to m-commerce"

Canko said that in 2016 the share that online purchases reached within payments was the highest of all time, at 12 percent.

Stating that virtual purchases, which were 34.6 billion liras in 2013, rose to 68.4 billion liras in 2016, Canko noted that annual growth was 23 percent.

Canko stated that, while cheques had a 0.7 percent share within total cashless payments in 2012, over the past 5 years they lost almost half of this share, declining to 0.4 percent.

Pointing out that EFT also increased its share from 6 percent to 8 percent, Canko stated that debit card use rose from 14 percent to 23 percent.

Canko reported that, in this respect, the share of credit cards declined from 79 percent to the 68s.

Recalling that there is a population of 60 million people over the age of 15 in Türkiye, Canko underlined that they measured credit card ownership at 22 million, that credit card ownership per person was 2.2, and that the potential population that could be credit card users was 37.7 million.

Canko provided the information that the number of debit cardholders was around 40 million, that the number of debit cards per person was 2.9, but that here too there were still nearly 20 million people in Türkiye who could acquire a debit card.

Explaining that e-commerce handed over its place to m-commerce, that is, mobile commerce, Canko noted that, when looking at mobile's share of online retail, mobile's share, which was 18 percent three years ago, had today reached the 38s, and that Türkiye was the fourth country in the world to adopt mobility fastest, after Japan, the United Kingdom and Korea.

Canko emphasised that, when looking at mobile's share within online retail, mobile payments, which were 19 percent of total transactions in 2014, reached 43 percent in 2015 and 51 percent in 2016.

Drawing attention to the growth of the financial technologies ecosystem in Türkiye, Canko noted that 47 percent of total venture capital investments in Türkiye were made in FinTech in 2016, and that there were also opportunities in this field.

Explaining that next-generation technologies would change payment experiences and the way business is done, Canko provided information about technologies that accelerate payment processes such as mobile, tokenization, biometrics, the Internet of Things, wearable technology, cashier-less payment solutions, chatbots, virtual assistants, artificial intelligence and blockchain.

Soner Canko said that in 2016 they took another giant step closer to the goal of a cashless society and cashless payments.

Grocery-food holds the largest share in card payments

Upon a journalist's question, recalling that total card payments grew by 12 percent and asking how much of this was made up of tax and insurance, Canko noted that, within the 587 billion liras, public-tax payments held a share of 18 billion liras and insurance payments a share of 28 billion liras.

Canko stated that grocery-food with 155 billion liras, petrol-fuel with 51 billion liras, and clothing with 48 billion liras made up the largest 3 categories in total card purchases.

Upon the question of whether they had analyses regarding the spending and transaction counts of non-Turkish citizens within the 2016 figures, Canko said: "(Syrian refugees) After all, if they too are using their own countries' debit cards, we already have aggregate data on hand. Not only has there been no abnormal growth, but we can say that the tourism problems experienced in 2016 were reflected here and that total foreign cards shrank by 19 percent. In that sense, they have no contribution."

Upon the question regarding operators establishing finance companies, Canko, recalling that with Law No. 6493 the payments business in Türkiye was also opened to non-bank institutions, said the following:

"Many institutions, including mobile operators, obtained operating licences. Even though our name is 'interbank', we have taken on the identity of an inter-institution card centre that is not exclusively interbank. We opened our doors to all companies. Indeed, in 2016 our first member joined us as a non-bank institution. In 2017 we will see many institutions, organisations, mobile operators and non-operators among us."

Upon the question "With PayPal's exit from Türkiye, difficulties are being experienced in international payments. Are you considering expanding abroad with BKM Express?", Canko replied: "Hopefully PayPal will return to Türkiye in 2017, open itself to Turkish cards, and even if we provide this with BKM Express, let us be complementary together with them. We want to cooperate even while competing."

Upon the question regarding 2017 expectations and the credit registry amnesty, Canko, stating that he was very hopeful about 2017, said: "In fact, whatever happens with the credit registry amnesty matter, it is not that we have written everything off; rather, it will be a window opened to those who can faithfully repay their existing debts. There is no possibility of it being abused. The number of problem consumers is steadily declining. Despite the current agenda in our country, I interpret it positively that consumers are financially closing out their old debts. In 2008-2009 there was no situation like today's, and there were far more non-performing loans and problem cards than now. Compared with that period, we are doing extraordinarily well."

Explaining that sometimes, prompted by questions, they look at analyses they had never wondered about, Canko said: "After a terror attack, purchases slow down, then before you know it they speed up in a way that makes up for it. During the coup attempt, there were reports that 'cash withdrawals at ATMs rose'; over the following 3 days they fell so much... Because we are in a long-term and deep market, the data I have given gives me hope for the future."