There are two main ways to take card payments in Turkey. You either sign up with your bank for a virtual POS, or you work with a payment institution such as iyzico, PayTR, Param or Sipay. A third option is becoming more common: payment orchestration services that manage several POS accounts and payment institutions from one place.
Which one is right depends on your revenue, products and customers. Here are the differences as we see them in practice.
Bank virtual POS
You sign a merchant agreement directly with the bank. Money reaches your bank account without passing through a payment institution.
Advantages:
- As your revenue grows, you have more room to negotiate the commission rate.
- The payout period is also set in the agreement and is often negotiable.
- With no second intermediary, the money flow is simpler.
Things to watch:
- Bank applications can take longer than payment institutions, and new businesses may be asked for collateral or extra documents.
- Installments are usually limited to the bank’s own card program. For example, you can offer installments for only one of Bonus, World, Maximum or Axess. Installments on all cards means agreements with several banks.
- Every bank has its own test environment, 3D Secure flow and documentation. Several banks means several integrations.
Payment institution
You sign up with a payment institution licensed by the Central Bank of Turkey (TCMB). It takes card payments through its own banking setup and transfers the money to your account at set intervals.
Advantages:
- Application and approval are usually faster. It’s the easiest start for a new store.
- One integration gives you installments on cards from different banks.
- Most platforms, including Shopify, ikas and WooCommerce, have a ready plugin or app.
- Some offer extras out of the box, such as payment links, saved cards or a marketplace model.
Things to watch:
- Commission rates are usually higher than a bank POS. With installments, check carefully who bears the interest.
- Payout days and holding periods vary from contract to contract.
- If your account goes under risk review, payouts can be put on hold. If your sector is considered sensitive (digital goods, tickets, high-value electronics, for example), ask about this up front.
Payment orchestration
Services like Craftgate let you connect several bank POS accounts and payment institutions through a single integration. You can route each transaction to the best POS by card and commission, and fail over to another POS when one doesn’t respond. Since your site talks to one API, adding a new bank doesn’t mean writing a new integration from scratch.
This usually makes sense for businesses that have reached a certain revenue, work with several banks and don’t want to depend on a single POS. For a new store it’s usually more than you need.
Roughly, which fits whom?
- A new store with unpredictable monthly revenue: a payment institution. You start quickly and installments are covered.
- An established store that wants lower commission: a virtual POS from the bank whose cards your customers use most, with a payment institution kept as a backup.
- A store with several banks that can’t afford downtime: payment orchestration.
This isn’t a rule, just a starting point. Your average order value, installment expectations and return rate can change the answer.
Whichever you choose
Some things don’t change on the technical side. Payment confirmation shouldn’t rely only on the customer’s browser returning to your site; it should be verified server-side with the provider. Card details shouldn’t be stored on your site. Refunds and partial refunds should be tested before going live. And remember that depending on a single POS means sales stop when that POS goes down.
We explain how each option connects to your platform on our payment gateway and virtual POS page. If you’re on Shopify, also see our guide to accepting payments on Shopify in Turkey.