Limit to credit card payments in Turkey extended to boost consumption
ANKARA
The limit to credit card installment payments for home appliances, furniture and educational shopping have been extended to 12 months, although the limit remains nine months for other shopping items and four months for jewelry, according to a decision by the banking watchdog (BDDK) published in the Official Gazette on Nov. 25.
The extensions will also be applied to corporate credit cards.
Ankara has long been planning to ease consumer loan and credit card conditions to revive Turkey’s declining growth numbers.
Credit card and personal loan debt has reached alarming levels in recent years, as the number of people unable to pay their personal loan or credit card debt surpassed 1 million in 2013, while the amount was around 698,000 in 2012, according to a report from the Turkish Banking Association (TBB).
With the measures, the share of consumer loans in total loans decreased by 20 percent, according to sector data.