Turkey’s consumer market is home to tens of millions of buyers who interestingly prefer paying with a card. In fact, statistics have found that more than half of shoppers — whether on or offline — prefer paying with a debit card. And because businesses should always strive to accommodate their customer’s preferences, a merchant account in Turkey should be a priority.
Allowing businesses to accept and process electronic payments, a Turkish merchant account proves to be a necessity for ventures in the here and now. And because debit and credit cards continue to reign as the payment method of choice, it’s probably time you consider opening your merchant account in Turkey.
First things first — what exactly is a merchant account? Well, you can think of a merchant account as a special, designated place to safely direct money that’s debited from buyers. The Turkish merchant account sits on your end of the relationship, while the card issuer sits on the other end.
Between these two entities is the merchant acquiring bank, which is essentially the bank you choose to open your Turkish merchant account with. This acquirer serves the purpose of communicating between your buyers and the brand on the card.
Once your buyer submits their card information — either through a point-of-sales terminal or through an online form — the acquirer takes the info to the card issuer’s payment gateway. Here, everything is inspected for correctness. Does all the information check out? Is there enough money in the account?
If all the answers are yes, then the card issuer opens the gateway and allows the acquirer to take money from the buyer’s account. They can hold this in an escrow before funneling the amount into your Turkish merchant account.
Disbursal schedules change from contract to contract, but the most common include:
Your acquirer will charge you a fee for every successful transaction completed with your merchant account in Turkey. Every business is quoted at a different rate, depending on a variety of factors. But you can expect the charge to land somewhere between 0.5% and 5.0% of the total transaction cost.
Keep in mind that this charge is hidden in the amount that your buyers pay. So if they’re billed a total of US$100, they won’t be charged an extra 5% on top of that price. This means that the acquirer will subtract their fee from the total amount that your buyers are instructed to pay.
To offset that deduction, some buyers impose a ‘processing fee’ on credit and debit card payments. That means they charge an extra 0.5% to 5.0% on the transaction cost to make up for the fee that their acquirer would charge.
Aside from the fee associated with each transaction, merchant accounts in Turkey also get charged penalties for chargebacks. That means that when a buyer requests to get a refund, your merchant acquiring bank will impose a penalty on the process that’s to be shouldered by the merchant.
Again, the rates change from contract to contract. But according to surveys, the penalty for a chargeback can be anywhere from US$20 to US$100. Yes, chargebacks can be expensive, and that’s because banks don’t really like it when that happens.
The process of reversing a payment can take some time and lots of money, so banks will impose steep fees to warn their merchants and make them come up with ways to prevent refunds from happening in the first place. In fact, banks will even actively avoid dealing with merchants that are more likely to experience chargebacks, which is how they’ve come up with the label ‘high risk.’
Although the penalties are different for everyone, it’s common for banks to indicate a termination clause in the contract if chargebacks happen too frequently. That’s why instead of a refund, most businesses will offer to send the buyer store credit that they can use to purchase new items from the same shop.
As previously explained, a high-risk merchant account in Turkey is essentially an account that’s at a higher risk of chargebacks. Banks are conservative, so they’ll avoid partnering up with clients that might turn out to be a liability down the line.
During the application process, they’ll measure your risk level depending on the information you provide. Risk ratings change from business to business, but there are a few tell-tale signs of a high-risk merchant, and these include:
If your business ticks off most of the items on this list, don’t be surprised if you’re met with rejection during the application process. Truth be told, even moderate-risk businesses can struggle to get approval, attesting to the truly conservative stance that banks take.
The first step of the process of course would be to choose the right partner bank. Not all banks are created equal, and some of them will offer incentives, flexible contracts, lower rates, and just better conditions for your business altogether. So make sure you shop around to find the perfect fit.
Then you’re going to have to come prepared with the necessary documents. Businesses that have a well-established relationship with their chosen bank might not have to bring too much paperwork. But if it’s your first time dealing with a specific banking institution, it pays to come prepared with all of the nitty-gritty.
The bank personnel with examine your information and put you through an interview to get a better understanding of who you are and what your business is all about. For low-risk merchants, approval can come in as short as 15 minutes.
But that’s not always how the story goes. High-risk merchant accounts in Turkey can be almost impossible to establish because of the cautious nature that banks tend to have. So even if you come with all the necessary paperwork, approval might not be as available for your high-risk merchant account in Turkey.
So what’s a high-risk business owner to do?
We’re a merchant account specialist in Turkey offering assistance to high-risk, hard-to-place merchants that might be struggling to get approval. We cooperate with a list of international banking institutions to bring you solutions and merchant account approval in as little as 24 hours.
Our partner banks are some of the most trusted in the industry, and they’ve made it their goal to level the playing field for all businesses — regardless of their risk rating. So we can guarantee placement with a bank that’s truly interested in seeing your business thrive.
But more than just placement, Shark Processing goes the extra mile by negotiating terms for your contract. We’re pro-client, and we believe that your risk rating shouldn’t affect the fees and penalties you have to pay for certain account activities. Thus we pave the way for flexible contracts and ultra-low rates to keep making electronic payments favorable not only for your clients but for your business as well.
Long waits, lots of documents, unanswered emails — all of that just to be met with rejection. It’s high time for a change. At Shark Processing, we guarantee placement for all of our clients minus all the stress and waiting. Our team of financial experts takes just the information we need to assess your business and find the perfect match for your venture.
Here’s how the process goes:
We’re here to streamline your approval. Contact us today to find out more about our services and how we can assist you with your high-risk merchant account in Turkey. Or move on straight to the next step by filling up our pre-application form on site.
