Short answer: A bank account in Turkey for foreigners is legally available to residents and non-residents alike. Before opening any account, the bank must verify identity with a passport, residence permit or other accepted identity document, verify the address and record a Turkish tax number or foreign identity number. These are minimum legal rules from MASAK and the Banking Law; each bank sets its own document list and can refuse if it cannot complete identification. Deposits at Turkish branches are insured by TMSF up to TRY 1,200,000 per person per bank in 2026.
Check an IBAN's format and check digits: Turkey IBAN format checker.
Foreigners in Turkey often hear contradictory advice about bank accounts: that a residence permit is required, that non-residents cannot open accounts, or that everything can be done in an app. The law is narrower than most of these claims. It sets identification, address and tax number requirements and leaves each bank to decide how it meets them and which customers it accepts.
This guide sets out those legal requirements from official sources as of October 2026: the anti-money-laundering regulation of MASAK (the Financial Crimes Investigation Board), the Banking Law, BDDK (the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency) rules, Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (TCMB, also CBRT) rules on IBANs and TMSF (the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund). It does not name or compare banks. Residence permits and visas are separate matters handled by the Presidency of Migration Management.
Can a foreigner open a bank account in Turkey?
Yes; Turkish banking rules do not bar foreigners or non-residents from holding accounts, but they make the bank responsible for knowing who the customer is.
Three rules apply to every account. MASAK's Regulation on Measures for the Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of Crime and the Financing of Terrorism (Article 5) requires identification regardless of amount whenever a permanent business relationship, such as an account, is established, and requires the bank to obtain information on the purpose and intended nature of the relationship. The Banking Law (No. 5411, Article 76) prohibits banks from opening deposit, credit or any other account, or providing transfers and other services, for customers who have not documented their identity and tax number. BDDK's regulation on accepting deposits (Article 4) repeats that identity and tax numbers must be documented before deposits are accepted.
The same regulation explains refusals. Under Article 22, a bank that cannot complete identification or cannot obtain enough information about the purpose of the relationship must not open the account. For higher-risk situations, Article 26/A lets banks ask for more information, including the source of funds, and require senior approval. A refusal is therefore usually a matter of the bank's risk policy, which each bank sets for itself.
What documents do you need to open an account?
The law specifies what must be collected and verified; the bank decides which documents it accepts, so ask the bank for its list before you go.
| Requirement | Rule | What it usually means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Identity information | MASAK regulation, Art. 6(1) | Name, surname, date and place of birth, nationality, identity document type and number, address, signature sample, occupation, phone and e-mail if any |
| Identity verification | MASAK regulation, Art. 6(2)(b) | Passport, residence permit or another identity document accepted by the Ministry, original or notarized copy |
| Address verification | MASAK regulation, Art. 6(3) | Certificate of residence, a utility bill for electricity, water, gas or phone issued within the last three months, a document from a public institution, or another method MASAK accepts |
| Tax number | Banking Law, Art. 76 | A 10-digit potential tax number, or the 11-digit foreign identity number for residence permit holders |
| Purpose of the account | MASAK regulation, Art. 5(3) | Why you need the account and what money will go through it, such as salary, rent or savings |
If you do not yet have a tax number, the Turkish tax number guide explains how to get one online or at a tax office. Address proof is often the hardest item for new arrivals, and the bank decides which of the accepted forms it will take.
Bank accounts in Turkey for non-residents
Non-residents can hold Turkish lira and foreign-currency deposits, and the main differences are in residency classification, tax and the documents a bank will accept.
For foreign-exchange and statistical purposes, residence follows Decree No. 32 on the Protection of the Value of the Turkish Currency; TCMB's interest rate statistics, for example, include deposits of both residents and non-residents. TMSF states that deposits held at domestic branches by Turkish or foreign persons living abroad are covered by deposit insurance in the same way as residents' deposits.
Interest is taxed at source. According to the February 2026 guide of the Revenue Administration (GİB) to provisional Article 67 of the Income Tax Law, withholding applies regardless of whether the account holder is a resident (full) or non-resident (limited) taxpayer; the rates are covered in Turkish lira deposit rates and withholding tax. According to the same guide, a non-resident can claim a lower rate under a tax treaty only by giving the bank, or the Boğaziçi Tax Office in Istanbul, a residence certificate from the home country's tax authority with a certified Turkish translation. Non-residents should also check how their home country taxes the interest and whether the account must be reported at home.
Can you open a Turkish bank account online from abroad?
Not as a rule yet: a June 2026 MASAK change allows passport-based remote identification of foreigners, but banks may use it only where banking rules permit, and as of October 2026 BDDK's rules do not extend it to foreigners in general.
MASAK General Communiqué No. 32 (Resmî Gazete, 27 June 2026, No. 33293) added Article 4/C to General Communiqué No. 19. It allows obliged parties to identify non-Turkish nationals remotely by video call using an NFC-enabled passport that meets ICAO standard 9303, with the chip data checked against the printed page. Customers onboarded this way are treated as high risk, and the communiqué sets strict conditions:
- the address must be confirmed within three months, and no transfer or cash withdrawal is allowed until it is;
- a first transfer must come from a bank account or card in the customer's own name, in Turkey or abroad;
- money may come in only from the customer's own accounts abroad and go abroad only to accounts in the customer's name, until identity is verified face to face;
- institutions may not accept, through this method, nationals of countries they classify as risky.
The MASAK regulation (Article 6/A), however, allows remote identification only where the legislation of the institution's own sector permits contracts without face-to-face identification. For banks, the BDDK regulation on remote identification, as consolidated on mevzuat.gov.tr in October 2026 (last amended in 2023), defines the identity document as the Turkish identity card and allows passport-based remote onboarding only for YUVAM accounts of Turkish citizens and Blue Card holders living abroad. No amendment covering other foreigners had been published in the Resmî Gazete by 25 October 2026. Until BDDK changes its rules, a foreigner who is not a Blue Card holder should expect to be identified in person, usually at a branch.
Lira and foreign-currency accounts
Banks offer demand and time deposits in Turkish lira, foreign currencies and precious metals, and the currency mainly changes the tax rate on interest and the exchange-rate risk.
As of October 2026, interest on lira time deposits is taxed at 17.5%, 15% or 10% depending on maturity under Presidential Decision 10041, while interest on foreign-currency deposit accounts is taxed at 25% regardless of maturity under Presidential Decision 7332 (GİB, February 2026). The FX-protected deposit scheme (KKM) is closed: TCMB ended new openings and renewals, except YUVAM accounts, from 23 August 2025. Lira balances lose purchasing power when inflation is high; see the Turkish lira inflation guide for the latest CPI.
Turkey IBAN number format
A Turkish IBAN has 26 characters: TR, two check digits, a five-digit bank code, one reserve digit that is always zero and a 16-character account number.
TCMB's IBAN Communiqué No. 2008/6 (Resmî Gazete, 10 October 2008, No. 27020) fixes the structure. TCMB assigns the bank codes; the account number has no standard internal format but is right-aligned with zeros on the left; the check digits use the ISO 7064 MOD 97-10 method; the IBAN may contain no lowercase letters or Turkish capitals such as Ç, Ğ, İ, Ö, Ş and Ü; and it is written without spaces electronically and in groups of four on paper.
Hypothetical IBAN: TR89 1234 5000 0000 1234 5678 90. Here TR is the country code, 89 the check digits, 12345 a made-up bank code, 0 the reserve digit and 0000001234567890 the account number. The short Python function below applies the MOD 97-10 test; it catches typing errors but cannot tell whether an account exists.
def is_valid_turkish_iban(iban):
iban = iban.replace(" ", "").upper()
if not (len(iban) == 26 and iban.startswith("TR")):
return False
s = iban[4:] + iban[:4] # move TR and check digits to the end
n = "".join(str(int(c, 36)) for c in s) # letters to numbers: T=29, R=27
return int(n) % 97 == 1 # ISO 7064 MOD 97-10
print(is_valid_turkish_iban("TR89 1234 5000 0000 1234 5678 90")) # True
print(is_valid_turkish_iban("TR89 1234 5000 0000 1234 5678 91")) # FalseWhen you receive money from abroad, give the sender your IBAN and the bank's SWIFT/BIC code, which the bank provides.
Deposit insurance: TMSF limit in 2026
Deposits at Turkish branches are insured by TMSF up to TRY 1,200,000 per person per bank from 1 January 2026.
The TMSF Fund Board raised the limit from TRY 950,000 to TRY 1,200,000 by decision 2025/706 (Resmî Gazete, 13 December 2025, No. 33106), taking the revaluation rate into account. According to TMSF, the cover:
- includes lira, foreign-currency and precious-metal deposits and participation accounts at domestic branches, whether the holder is Turkish or foreign and whether or not they live in Turkey;
- applies separately at each bank, with all accounts of the same person at one bank added together;
- excludes government bonds, Treasury bills, investment funds and crypto assets sold through banks, accounts of controlling shareholders and senior managers and their close relatives, accounts at offshore institutions and at foreign branches of Turkish banks.
The amount for 2027 had not been announced as of October 2026. Investment products bought through a bank, such as Turkish government bonds, are outside the scheme.
Frequently asked questions
Can I open a bank account in Turkey without a residence permit?
The MASAK regulation allows a passport to verify the identity of a non-Turkish citizen, so a residence permit is not a legal requirement. You still need a tax number, an address the bank can verify and a stated purpose, and each bank decides whether to accept you.
Can a non-resident open a Turkish bank account online?
Generally not yet. MASAK allowed passport-based remote identification of foreigners from 27 June 2026, but banks also need BDDK rules to permit it, and as of October 2026 those rules allow passport-based remote onboarding only for YUVAM accounts of Turkish citizens and Blue Card holders. Other foreigners should expect to be identified in person.
How many characters does a Turkish IBAN have?
26: the letters TR, two check digits, a five-digit bank code, a reserve digit that is always zero and a 16-character account number.
Are deposits in Turkish banks insured?
Yes. TMSF insures deposits and participation accounts at domestic branches up to TRY 1,200,000 per person per bank in 2026, in lira, foreign currency or precious metals. Bonds, funds and other investment products are not covered.
Why did a Turkish bank refuse my application?
Banks must not open an account if they cannot complete identification or learn the purpose of the account, and each bank adds its own risk policy to the legal minimum. Ask for the bank's document list before you apply.
Sources
- Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi: MASAK Regulation on Measures for the Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of Crime and the Financing of Terrorism, Articles 5, 6, 6/A, 22 and 26/A (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Ministry of Treasury and Finance: Regulation on Measures, English translation (2023 version; later amendments not included) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: MASAK General Communiqué No. 32 amending Communiqué No. 19, remote identification of non-Turkish nationals, 27 June 2026, No. 33293 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi: BDDK regulation on remote identification methods used by banks, consolidated text, Articles 3, 7 and 12/A (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi: Banking Law No. 5411, Articles 63 and 76 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- BDDK regulation on accepting deposits and participation funds, Article 4 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- TMSF: Deposit and participation fund insurance FAQ, 2026 insured amount and scope (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: TMSF Fund Board decision 2025/706 on the 2026 insured amount, 13 December 2025, No. 33106 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- TCMB: IBAN Communiqué No. 2008/6 (opens in a new tab)
- GİB: Guide to provisional Article 67 of the Income Tax Law for individuals, February 2026, deposit interest sections (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- TCMB: Press release on FX-protected deposit accounts, No. 2025-45, 23 August 2025 (opens in a new tab)
- TCMB: Metadata for interest rates on deposits, weekly flow data (residency definitions) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: MASAK General Communiqué No. 19 on remote identification, 30 April 2021, No. 31470, Article 6 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
This guide is general information, not investment, legal or tax advice. Amounts, rates and rules in Turkey change often: check the date given for each figure and the official source before you rely on it, and ask a licensed adviser about your own situation. Sources, checks and corrections: see the editorial policy.