New era in banking: SMS password requirement for wire transfers and EFT transactions begins

With the high inflation seen in Turkey, banks have been rapidly increasing customers' credit card and loan limits, while the rising limits are fueling the potential for 'million-lira scams' by fraudsters. 

NEW ERA IN EFT AND WIRE TRANSFERS

As numerous public and private bank customers allege that loans were taken out in their names without their consent and that the funds were transferred to other bank accounts, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), having taken action following the rise in complaints, is preparing to implement fundamental changes to applications such as EFT and wire transfers that facilitate money transfers between bank accounts.

WILL COME INTO EFFECT AS OF MARCH

While it is stated that the final stage has been reached in the study, for which details regarding the draft work were shared in recent days, a new era in money transfers will begin with the change expected to be made mandatory for all banks operating in Turkey as of March.

With this regulation, users will be required to provide additional confirmation for wire transfers to accounts within the same bank or EFT transactions to accounts at other banks via internet banking or the banks' mobile applications.

Under the current regulation, many banks only request the details of the account to which the money will be transferred when EFT and wire transfer transactions are made during the day, provided that the customers' phones are registered. 

Following the change, even if users give an instruction to perform a money transfer via a registered phone, they will be required to enter an SMS password sent to the phone registered in the banking system in order to complete the transaction.