Expected Regulations in the Payment Services Sector Entered into Force!

Regulation on Payment Services and Electronic Money Issuance and Payment Service Providers by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (“Payment and E-Money Regulation”) and Communiqué on Information Systems of Payment and Electronic Money Institutions and Data Sharing Services in the Field of Payment Services of Payment Service Providers (“Information Systems” Communiqué”) was published in the Official Gazette dated 01.12.2021 and numbered 31676 and entered into force.

With the regulations that have been expected for a long time in the sector, there are quite comprehensive regulations from capital, partnership structure, foundation principles to technical, infrastructure, information security, risk and internal control processes. SRP-Legal Founder and Manager Atty. Dr. Çiğdem Ayözger Öngün, in her statement summarizing the issue of Payment and E-Money Regulation, said, “As SRP-Legal, we consider it an important responsibility to convey the summary of these issues so that all relevant institutions can more easily monitor the remarkable issues brought by the new regulation.

The main regulations in the Payment and E-Money Regulation are as follows:

• All kinds of quantitative data that can be associated with price, such as wages, commissions, and interest, are defined as competition sensitive data, and competition parameters between undertakings operating in the sector are determined within the scope of regulation;
• By enabling electronic communication operators to offer various services to immature prepaid or postpaid users with the approval of their legal representatives, operators operating in the electronic communication sector have been enabled to offer services to a wider audience;
• In the payment account and infrastructure services that payment service providers can offer to each other, it is ensured that the undertakings operating in the sector can make the necessary contractual relations under the same conditions in order to provide services by introducing the obligation to provide other commercial customers, business partners and other payment service providers with which they make transactions;
• By introducing decisive rules for the operating principles of payment institutions and electronic money institutions, the framework and security principles of all transactions and activities to be carried out through these institutions have been determined;
• The prohibited activities of these organizations were clarified and the provision of non-authorization services in the sector using interpretation-based methods was prevented;
• By introducing a regulatory framework for the establishment of cooperation between real or legal persons not resident in Turkey and these institutions, financial services in this field can also be carried out with cross-border cooperation;
• Organizations have had the opportunity to establish representative relations regarding their activities abroad;
• The minimum equity obligation has been increased by differentiation according to the types of payment services that payment institutions will offer;
• Organizations have had the opportunity to outsource their significant operational activities from outside service providers.

Information Systems Communiqué Within the scope of the scope of the project, organizations were given the opportunity to operate an Identity Verification System in transactions performed in information systems; The mechanism for submitting the sum of the costs, commissions and fees to be applied for payment services to the approval of the customer has been regulated and transparency has been brought in favor of the consumer.

Payment and E-Money Regulation Although it has entered into force as of the date of publication, the previous Payment and E-Money Regulationto the provisions not included in Payment and E-Money RegulationThe obligation to harmonize within one year from the date of publication has been introduced.

The long awaited in the industry Payment and E-Money Regulation and Information Systems Communiqué is considered to contain significant regulations for existing payment institutions and new market entrants. We believe that the regulation aiming to avoid discriminatory practices in the provision of payment account and infrastructure services, especially among payment service providers, will directly affect the market's attainment of fair competition conditions.