Gift card sale on installment prohibited

ANKARA

The BDDK has banned paying for gift cards with installments.

Turkish consumers will no longer be permitted to pay for gift cards or gift tokens with installments after the country’s banking watchdog announced an extension of restrictions.

The change in the regulation by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), which was published in the Official Gazette yesterday, restricts stores in offering installment payments for goods that do not include any concrete good or service.

The BDDK also removed corporate credit cards from the scope of installment payment limitations.

The watchdog introduced new measures at the beginning of February to curb the use of credit cards to pay for goods in monthly installments in the hope that it would restrict the country’s growing inflation and current account deficit.

Under the new rules, consumers are no longer allowed to defer payments on small items such as food, petrol and mobile phones.

Payments for larger items – such as TVs, furniture and appliances – can only be delayed up to nine months.