Banking and paying in Turkey: what the bank asks, what an account may cost and rent through the bank

Can you open a bank account in Turkey as a Dutch citizen? Yes. The bank must identify you, and for a foreigner it does so with your passport, your residence document or another document the government approves. What an account costs is strictly regulated. The finding at the source is a rule of the Turkish central bank: for opening and maintaining an ordinary account, a bank may not charge a consumer anything. The pitfall is the proof of address. For an ongoing customer relationship the bank checks your address with a proof of residence from the civil registry, a government document or a utility bill no older than three months. A lease is not on that list.

What does the bank ask for?

What	Rule
Identity	passport, residence document or another approved identity document
Details	name, date of birth, nationality, type and number of your document, address, signature, occupation, place of birth
Proof of address	a residence certificate from the civil registry, or an electricity, water, gas or phone bill at most three months old, or another document from a public body
Copy	the bank takes a legible copy of the original or of a notarised copy

What the law asks extra from foreigners is your place of birth. So bring the proof of residence from e-Devlet, the yerleşim yeri belgesi, or a recent utility bill in your own name. For e-Devlet you need a password, which you collect at the PTT with your residence permit. How you get the foreigner number and the address registration is in the Turkish numbers.

What may an account cost?

The central bank has set out the fees for consumers. For opening a savings or current account, maintaining it and holding your money, the bank may charge nothing. Depositing money, checking your balance and withdrawing within your limit at an ATM of your own bank are free. For transfers, these maxima per EFT apply since 6 January 2026:

Amount of the EFT	App, internet, standing order	ATM or kiosk	Other channels
up to 8,300 lira	7.97 lira	27.84 lira	39.87 lira
8,300.01 to 399,000 lira	15.96 lira	55.69 lira	79.76 lira
above 399,000 lira	199.41 lira	398.83 lira	797.68 lira

For a transfer within the same bank half those maxima apply, and for the FAST instant payment system the same limits as for EFT. For an international transfer the communiqué sets no maximum: you agree those costs with the bank in your contract. So a transfer from or to the Netherlands costs whatever your bank charges for it.

Why do you need an account for the rent?

Because landlord and tenant must document rent payments with papers from a bank or the PTT. A transfer, deposit, card payment or payment via internet banking counts. Anyone who doesn't risks a fine per transaction of 10 percent of the amount, with a minimum of 8,700 lira for private individuals.

Take your numbers when you pay in at the counter. If you deposit the rent at the counter into the landlord's account, add your identity or tax number, your name and the description "kira ödemesi". Then the deposit counts as proof. A cash payment into the landlord's hand does not count.

How tenancy law works otherwise, with the deposit in a bank account, is in renting in Turkey.

Do you keep your Dutch account?

Yes. Your Dutch payments keep running through it, and it keeps your lines to the Netherlands open. Why you never close that account or your DigiD is explained in keeping a bank account and DigiD. For daily life in Turkey, the rent and the bills, you use a Turkish account.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Turkey or go straight to step 5.1 in the open plan.