Published: 21/05/2012

High interest accounts are between 10 and 11.5 per cent at the moment, depending on which bank you choose. Realistically, your bank of choice will boil down to which ones have presence in the town or resort that you live or have a property in, as well as whether or not they have ATM cards and machines and whether they offer internet banking.

Holiday homeowners and foreigners will find that setting up a bank account in Turkey is a relatively straightforward process. All they need to do is acquire a tax number from their local tax office (Vergisi) and then hand it in to the bank of their choice along with a photocopy of their passport.

Once that is done, you can then start using the accounts just like any normal bank in the EU. If you are planning on holding large amounts of money at the bank it is advisable to put your money in a high interest Turkish Lira account which releases interest monthly. Most foreigners and expats utilise this system and the monthly interest pays for their day-to-day spending.

High interest accounts are between 10 and 11.5 per cent at the moment, depending on which bank you choose. Realistically, your bank of choice will boil down to which ones have presence in the town or resort that you live or have a property in, as well as whether or not they have ATM cards and machines and whether they offer internet banking.

The main banks that expats and foreign homeowners use are:

*Garanti Bank : Widely used by most expats and widely considered a safe and secure bank

*HSBC : Part of the HSBC Group with the all modern designs and accounts that HSBC is well known for. This is again considered a safe bet for your money

* Is Bank : Well known Turkish bank used by business people and foreign home owners.

* Akbank : Another well regarded bank in Turkey

* Finansbank : The fifth largest private bank of Turkey

*TEB Bank

* Deniz Bank

* ING Bank

Keeping your money safe

1 – Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (SDIF) means that if your bank there fails, you are entitled to claim up to 50,000 lira (per bank), which is around £17,500, however if the SDIF is called in to administer a bank before it collapses, then all deposits held by private individuals could be re-payed in full. In the UK, regulated current accounts, savings accounts and cash ISAs in banks are covered by the government backed Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and accountholders can claim up to £85,000 back per financial institution – in other EU countries this limit is €100,000.

2 – Arguably the safest way to protect your money is to spread it across more than one bank, thereby reducing risk. Remember, if a bank goes go bust, you’re likely to have to wait a while before you receive compensation.

3 – When transferring money between your UK and Turkish bank accounts, it is advisable to use currency transfer specialist Moneycorp, which guarantees better-than-bank exchange rates and a quick and efficient service.

New law boosts overseas property buyers

A new influx of foreign property buyers from the Middle East, Gulf countries and the Turkic states of Central Asia is poised to descend on Turkey due to a seismic shift in the country’s property law.

With the approval of new legislation last week regulating the sale of Turkish land to foreigners, tourism centres such as Didim and Kuşadası have received more attention from prospective buyers, leading experts to predict a rise in property and housing prices as demand increases.

The new law will pave the way for foreign citizens from the Middle East, Gulf countries, the United States and the Far East to purchase real estate in Turkey. The new ruling also raises the amount of land a foreign buyer can purchase from 2.5 to 30 hectares. In addition, the Turkish Council of Ministers may be able to raise this to 60 hectares at their discretion.

Under the previous legislation, citizens of countries like Libya, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Turkic Republics were unable to purchase real estate in Turkey because their countries had not entered into reciprocity agreements.

The new law affords foreign nationals, legal entities and local firms, which are at least 50 per cent owned by international enterprises, the right to own real estate and limited real property rights in Turkey. The law provides that the amount of property owned by foreigners in a given district cannot exceed 10 per cent of the privately owned real estate there. The new law needs presidential approval to take effect.

External Article Link: http://www.turkeypropertyplus.com/news/?id=388

Article Link: http://www.turkeypropertyplus.com/news/?id=388

Please contact the author at marketing@turkeypropertyplus.com for more information.