Banking in Turkey as a Brit: opening an account, keeping your UK bank and moving money

You can open a Turkish bank account with a passport, a tax number and a local address, even before your ikamet arrives. Keep your UK account too: you'll need both.

The short version

• Turkish banks open accounts for foreigners with a passport, a foreigner identification number or tax number, and proof of a Turkish address [1].
• Get your tax number first: it's free and quick, and almost every branch asks for it.
• Open a lira account for daily life and a foreign currency account in pounds or euros to hold savings and receive transfers.
• Keep a UK bank account for UK pensions, direct debits and HMRC, and tell the bank you've moved abroad.
• The DWP can pay your State Pension straight into a Turkish account, every 4 or 13 weeks, after a 0.39% conversion charge [4].

What you need to open an account

İşbank, one of Turkey's largest banks, publishes a clear list for foreign nationals, and other banks ask for much the same [1]:

Source: İşbank, "Become our customer" [1].

In practice, branches in Fethiye also want a Turkish mobile number, because online banking and card payments are confirmed by text message. Bring a printed rental contract as well as a bill if you've only just moved in. Branch staff in the town centre and in Çalış are used to British customers, but English varies, and policies can differ from branch to branch. Some banks are more cautious with people who don't yet have a residence permit, so if one branch says no, try another.

İşbank runs expat banking with bilingual relationship managers at designated branches in Turkey and Northern Cyprus. It doesn't publish which branches, so ask on its phone line (0850 724 0 724) whether there's one near Fethiye [2]. The other big names on Fethiye's high street include Ziraat Bankası, VakıfBank, Garanti BBVA, Akbank and Yapı Kredi.

Step by step

1. Get a tax number (vergi numarası) at the Fethiye tax office with your passport, or online. Our guide to e-Devlet, the tax number and your first month in Turkey explains how.
2. Get a Turkish SIM. Foreign phones need registering to keep working on Turkish networks after a short period, so do this early.
3. Visit the branch with your passport, tax number and proof of address [1]. Ask for both a lira (TL) account and a foreign currency (döviz) account.
4. Set up mobile banking in the branch, so staff can help with the Turkish menus. Most apps have an English option.
5. Update the bank once your ikamet arrives: your foreigner ID number (starting 99) then replaces the tax number on your record.

How Turkish banking differs from home

The TMSF limit is raised every year or so in lira terms, so check the current figure with your bank; the fund's own website wouldn't load for us. Keeping large sums in one Turkish bank, as anywhere, means some of it may sit above the protected amount.

Expect to queue with a ticket in the branch, as in a UK post office, and expect more paperwork than at your old Nationwide. Banks must check where larger deposits come from, so keep records of the sale of a UK house or a pension lump sum before moving the money.

Keeping your UK account

Don't close your UK account when you move. You'll want it for:

• UK pensions. Workplace pensions and annuities usually pay into a UK account.
• UK direct debits, such as an ISA, a UK mortgage or the TV licence on a let property.
• HMRC. Tax refunds and UK Self Assessment payments are simpler from a UK account.
• Your credit record. A UK account and card keep your UK credit file alive for a return.

Tell your UK bank you live abroad. Some UK banks limit or close accounts for non-residents, and the rules differ by bank, so ask before you go, and check whether yours charges for card payments in lira. Keeping a UK address for post is tricky; our guides to keeping a UK bank account when you live abroad and keeping a UK mobile number and address for banks and HMRC cover the details.

Moving money from the UK

There are three common routes:

1. A bank transfer (SWIFT) from your UK bank to your Turkish account. Simple, but UK banks usually add a fee and an exchange-rate margin, and the Turkish bank may charge to receive it.
2. Send pounds to your Turkish foreign currency account, then convert to lira in your Turkish app as you need it. This lets you choose when to convert, which matters with a lira that moves.
3. A regulated money transfer provider. Often cheaper than a bank on the exchange rate. Check the firm is authorised by the FCA before using it.

For your State Pension, the DWP converts to local currency at the rate on the day, takes 0.39%, and pays every 4 or 13 weeks; you'll need the Turkish IBAN and BIC [4]. Our guide to living on UK pensions in Turkey covers when to convert, and sending money between the UK and abroad compares the options in more depth.

Interest and tax

Interest on a Turkish account counts as income for Turkish tax. UK bank interest can be taxed by both countries under the UK–Turkey double taxation agreement, with the UK's share capped at 15% [3]. The FCDO notes that the agreement aims to stop you paying tax twice on the same income [6]. Turkey shares account information with other tax authorities, so assume HMRC can see a Turkish account while you're still UK resident.

Banking questions, from which branch is quickest to which app has the best English, come up weekly in our community group for Brits in Turkey. A tax adviser who knows both countries can check anything unusual.

Sources

1. İşbank: Become our customer (documents for foreign nationals)
2. İşbank: Expat banking and Expat banking branches
3. GOV.UK (HMRC): 1988 UK–Turkey Double Taxation Agreement, in force
4. GOV.UK: State Pension if you retire abroad, how you're paid
5. Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye: One-week repo rate (36% from 23 October 2026)
6. GOV.UK (FCDO): Living in Turkey (updated 31 December 2025)

Keep reading

• e-Devlet, tax number and your first month in Turkey
• Living on UK pensions in Turkey: inflation and the lira
• Turkish taxes for Brits: the UK link and your State Pension
• Keeping a UK bank account when you live abroad