The Turkish Denizbank, which was loyal to the Russians, has tightened the conditions for opening and using accounts for them. The amount of deposit required to become a client of the bank has increased by almost 10 times
Turkish Denizbank tightened conditions for citizens of Russia. It increased the minimum amount of deposit almost tenfold, and also set the minimum amount of outgoing SWIFT-transfer at $10,000 and allowed it only upon confirmation of the need of the operation. This was reported to RBC by two intermediaries who help Russians open cards in Turkish banks.
Now in order to open an account citizens of Russia will have to make a deposit of at least $5 thousand (about 310 thousand rubles) which will be frozen for 30 days. Previously, its size was 10 thousand lire (about $540, or about 33 thousand rubles at the exchange rate). The innovations will take effect from November 2, said two interlocutors of RBC.
When opening an account bank managers are now also asked to sign a document where the client agrees not to use an account in Denizbank to make transactions “abroad for transfers and / or other foreign transactions and cryptocurrency trading, or to send money indirectly or directly to cryptocurrency platforms”. RBC reviewed it, and the authenticity of the wording was confirmed by both intermediaries. Otherwise, the bank may terminate customer service, the document says. There are no restrictions on incoming transfers in it.
“Outgoing transfers can be made only if the amount is $10 thousand and only if necessary, for which you have to show supporting documents to Denizbank employees at the branch. For example, a receipt of payment for hotel services abroad,” says one of the intermediaries.
The tightening is due to the fact that Russian citizens may use accounts in Denizbank as a “pad” for transfers from Russian banks to accounts in foreign credit institutions in other countries, as well as for the purchase of cryptocurrencies, said one of the interlocutors RBC. He said that rules prohibiting outgoing transfers have been in force before, but they were announced to clients verbally and therefore they were often violated.
Russians have already faced tougher conditions for opening a card in Turkey after the announcement of the partial mobilization and the migration of many Russian citizens into the country. In order to reduce the flow of those wishing to open an account, banks set barrier deposits or required additional documents, such as an employment contract with a Turkish company. At the same time, Denizbank (a subsidiary of Sberbank until 2019) treated clients from Russia relatively loyally, RBC wrote: it did not demand a non-refundable fee, as some other banks, and did not impose requirements for a large deposit.
In March 2022, the international payment systems Visa and Mastercard left Russia, as a result of which their cards stopped working abroad. Until September, the cards of the Russian payment system Mir worked in Turkey, but after threats from the U.S. to impose sanctions for cooperation with the Russian company, Turkish banks began to disable their acceptance.