The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) has confirmed that it is ready to pilot a new payment system called the Instant and Continuous Transfer of Funds (FAST) on the 18th December 2020, with the aim of covering all financial institutions.
There are 53 banks in Turkey, out of which six are fully-fledged Islamic banks.
The new system will run alongside the Easy Addressing System, which enables to initiate payments more easily by using data such as telephone numbers, ID numbers, or e-mail addresses.
“Thus, the CBRT will be completing a significant step in its endeavors to develop the country’s retail payment systems infrastructure in a way to support innovative financial technologies and methods of executing and handling payments,” the central bank said. “These developments, which will strengthen the basic infrastructure in the field of payments, will make innovative financial technologies an indispensable part of daily life and provide major contributions to the target of a full-fledged digital economy.