Which bank?

[SandyLea]

When we move out, we should have our house sale proceeds to invest in Turkey.  Which is the best bank to put it in or should we divide it up between banks? 

I would be interested to know, (a)  who is the safest, and, (b) who gives the best interest.

We are risk averse so safety is better than sky high interest.

Are there any rules in place that if a bank goes bust, there is a regulatory authority who will refund any losses to customers?

Thank you in anticipation.

[keng38]

Use the search feature as there have been a few discussions recently. I think there's a guarantee of around £75k at each bank

[LeeGlo]

Whichever bank you choose, you will get around 10% interest on a time deposit Turkish Lira account, (depending on how much you invest), money tied up for around 32 days. You will pay 15% tax on the interest at source.  The government guarantee is 50K Turkish lira per person per bank, joint account for 2 people would be 100K TL, so it is wise to spread your money around and make sure the banks you choose are not in the same banking group. The state banks, which some think are safer are Ziraat, Vakif and Halk Banks, though you may not get the best rate of interest and English speaking staff may be thin on the ground.

[SandyLea]

Thank you LeeGlow.  Very interesting.  Are there any of these state banks you mention in Fethiye?  If not, where are they and who is the best in Fethiye (we don't speak Turkish other than about 40 words that all revolve around ordering food or drink so not very helpful when opening an account!)

[Liz 101]

All the banks named have branches in Fethiye. Might also be worth opening an ING bank orange account for "rainy" day money, it pays around 10% & you can draw out / pay in at any time without loss of interest

[SandyLea]

Re:  ING Orange - blimey that's good.  Things seem to get better and better than we had bargained for with this move. 

[Big Doug]

How about Internet banking any better than others?

[karaokemark]

I have an orange account at ING and a daily account and GBP account, I use internet banking to move money between accounts and pay bills etc, easy to use and all in English. In my opinion the best account available at the moment, interest paid into your account at close every day.
Mark

[col]

Finans internet banking is excellent, as is their call centre at head office.
The main branch in town has many excellent english speaking staff,
helpful and friendly.
The slight downside, especially compared in ING, Finans bank can get busy
and don't expect to be in and out in minutes, unless like anywhere, you hit
it at the right time.

[LeeGlo]

Thank you LeeGlow.  Very interesting.  Are there any of these state banks you mention in Fethiye?  If not, where are they and who is the best in Fethiye (we don't speak Turkish other than about 40 words that all revolve around ordering food or drink so not very helpful when opening an account!)

Liz101 is right, branches of all 3 in Fethiye. Also as mentioned the ING Orange account is good, if you have only the Orange account with no current or sterling accounts there are no bank charges.

If you put 2 DD'd against your TL current account, for example Electric & Water bills you will not get any bank charges. Most Turkish banks charge an account management fee of a few Lira per month debited from your current account.

Lots of expats bank with Garanti, Finans, HSBC, etc as they do have English speaking staff. You might like to look at TEB as well, we have used them for over 4 years and been quite happy.