Opening a Turkish Bank Account

[Roy]

Hi,
Looking for help & advice AGAIN folks!!
Can anyone staying in Icmeler, or someone having a Turkish bank account, help advise me about opening an account say with Garranti or whoever, how easy it is, what's required & how simply/costly is it to transfer monies from my account here at home?
Thinking about taking my laptop with me to hopefully make it as simple as it is to transfer money between accounts here at home rather than go to internet cafe.
As I will be staying for a lenghty time credit cards or travellers cheques could be problematic, so not really wanting to go down that road.
Thanks in anticipation
Roy.

[Tobyjug]

Hi Roy, you must have a resident address and a tax number to open an account, to obtain this it would be advisable to have someone that you know ( Turkish ) that could take you down to the tax office in Marmaris to get yous tax number.

[stevew]

Hi Roy,
Don't Know anything about opening accounts in Turkey but a search revealed this...
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=3496&p=27592&hilit=Turkish+bank+accounts#p27592
Hope it is of help...
Steve

[Tobyjug]

The interest rates have almost halved to what they used to be in most banks in Turkey, but it's still better than what you will get at home by a long way.

[Amanda M]

We had to open a Turkish Bank account when we bought our apartment a few years ago. You will need a tax number which you have to get from the tax office in Marmaris (just below the big water park on top of the hill - sorry can't remember its name!). When we went to get our tax number, we did have our Turkish agent with us so not sure how easy this would be to do on your own! You will need to take your passport and you will also need your passport and tax number when opening the account. Our account is currently with Garanti in Icmeler and the lady who deals with account openings there speaks quite good English and we did not find it too stressful a process. Be prepared to have to wait a while as they always seem to be quite busy and we found out from a local on our last visit that it is not a case of first come first served. They give priority to certain accounts so you could sit there for ages waiting to be served whereas others get served as soon as they walk through the door! Couldn't see that system being very popular over here! You can also register with online banking with Garanti which is good for us as it means we can keep an eye on the account when we are at home. Hope this helps.

[Amanda M]

No Roy, we don't have a card, only a book. Only found out about the benefits of having a card after waiting for nearly an hour and watching lots of people come in after us and be served well before us!! It was Ebru who opened our account and her English was good.

[Katiehutchinson_1991]

thing is with turkish bank accounts is that they actually charge you to continue to have them open
something like 25tl a year i think it is as we got a shock at why our money had gone down without using it
just something to be aware of
xxxx

[Roy]

Hi all,
thanks gratefully for all your responses & help, very informative & useful - much appreciated again.
Been in a bank & noticed how people didn't queue, have turkish friends who I will get to accompany me but maybe I need someone more important; maybe I'll ask the Mayor if he's not busy one day (ha ha).
Have checked with my own bank & can do up to 3 on-line transfers for £7.50 a go then it goes up to £19 a time but will need to check that the turkisk bank doesn't charge as well; on-line you can choose to transfer in £ sterling or T lira but exchange rate is poor, as I will be there for a lengthy time credit card not really an option (although could possibly pay on-line & not incur any charges) & travellers cheques would prove costly.
thanks again
Roy.

[Roy]

Hi Peli,
Thanks for that; yeah that is correct about the international bank charges & other internal charges are free. Like yourself it is my intention to take a lump sum out with me to deposit in a current account initially as well as travellers cheques & TL left over from last year to tide me over until the account is activated. Garranti was my bank of choice so disappointed, but not too surprised, about them charging a fee. Other option is to have my current account debit card activated use for abroad, had this done before but never needed to use it & can't remember if there is a charge for this. Thinking of taking my laptop wih me to make it easier to do on-line banking, e-mail etc but would need to find internet access, don't feel to secure sitting next to god knows who in internet cafe doing banking. This is all a bit of a new learning experience on something we deal with every day at home & take for granted but any advice is appreciated.
Cheers,
Roy.