Turkey implements new credit card limit regulations

The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) has introduced new regulations to align credit card limits with consumers' actual income and debt capacity. Under the new system, banks will no longer rely solely on self-reported income. Instead, they will integrate official data from the Social Security Institution (SGK) and the Banks Association of Turkey (TBB) Risk Center to assess a person's real income and total debt load across all financial institutions.

The primary objective is to prevent excessive debt and enhance financial stability, particularly as non-performing loan rates in the banking sector rose to 2.9% in July 2026. The regulation specifically targets high-limit cardholders whose limits significantly exceed their documented income. For instance, users with total limits between 400,000 TL and 750,000 TL may face limit reductions under certain conditions.

Banks are required to complete the necessary infrastructure and compliance updates to implement these changes by January 1, 2027. While the rules will impact high-limit users, approximately 75% of Turkey's 40.7 million credit card users—those with limits below 400,000 TL—are expected to be less directly affected by automatic reductions.