Abstract: In recent years credit cards have penetrated the Turkish market, with circulation growing to 44.4 million cards as of December 2009, a 182 percent increase over levels in December 2002. (The Interbank Card Center) As a result, Turkey stands as one of the fastest growing credit card markets in Europe and in 2007 ranked third in terms of number of credit cards and tenth in card usage. (Aysan and Yildiz, p. 142) Plastic was first introduced to Turkey in 1968 with the inception of Diners Club Cards, which were seen solely as an element of prestige that were distributed to the rich. Today, credit card issuers offer multi-branded cards with installment, use award, and loyalty-point features. Point-of-sale machines, devices used to swipe credit cards when making purchases, are found in most stores around the country, making plastic one of the most convenient methods of payment. Yet growth does not come without further complexities and problems. Complaining customers, rising levels of card defaults, shocking statistics about card-debt-related suicides, and increasing usage have drawn attention to the industry in the past decade. Consequently, the government has been compelled to intervene. In 2003 credit cards were taken under the scope of Turkey’s Consumer Protection Law, and an amnesty was granted that marked the start of a process of regulation and reform; however, despite the increased regulation, difficulties still remain. In this article I first discuss the nature of credit card processing in Turkey in order to give background on the parties involved and their respective interests. I then present the history of the Turkish credit card market, including that of industry regulation, and address two issues pertaining to the Turkish credit card system: the stickiness of credit card rates in recent years and the rising number of defaults as a result of the global financial crisis. In conclusion, I suggest
Publication Year: 2010
Publication Date: 2010-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 3
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