Explosion in bounced checks: A 78.7 percent increase

Following the change in economic management after the general elections last year and the subsequent implementation of a tight monetary policy, bounced checks and protested promissory notes began to increase toward the final months of 2023.

78.7 PERCENT INCREASE

According to a report in BirGün, the number of checks that bounced when presented to banks increased by 78.7 percent in the first six months of this year, rising from 62,597 to 111,886. The monetary value of the bounced checks increased by 254 percent, rising from 19 billion liras to 67.9 billion liras.

While 24.3 percent of bounced checks by volume were paid after the bounced check procedure was initiated during the same period in 2023, this rate fell to 15.6 percent this year. The ratio of the monetary value of checks paid after the bounced check procedure was initiated declined from 23.5 percent to 13.7 percent.

A total of 17,000 checks worth 9.3 billion TL belonging to 7,619 individuals, for which a bounced check procedure had been initiated, were subsequently paid. In the January-June 2024 period, the five provinces with the highest amount of bounced checks were Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya, and Bursa, respectively. On the other hand, in addition to bounced checks, there has also been an accelerated increase in the number of promissory notes—which hold an important place for companies—that were not paid at maturity and became protested. According to data from the Risk Center, the number of protested promissory notes rose to 87,497 in the first five months of the year, while the value of protested notes reached 13 billion 981 million 807 thousand liras. Although the number of protested notes decreased by 5 percent in the first 5 months compared to the same period last year, the value of protested notes increased by 181 percent.