Future of Fintech in Turkey in the Absence of Mandatory Open Banking Regulations and the Possible Role of Competition Law

Abstract

In 2019, along with the amendment of the Law No 6493, account information service providers (“AISPs”) and payment initiation service providers (“PISPs”) were granted legal recognition in Turkey for the first time. However, although PISPs and AISPs may now be established in Turkey, the relevant legislation does not include a mandatory open banking rule and banks remain free to decide whether to grant AISPs and PISPs access to account information they possess. This article discusses whether competition laws may be of assistance to PISPs and AISPs in the absence of mandatory open banking rules by analyzing three different scenarios and concludes that although competition law may offer some help, lack of clear cut ex-ante regulations (similar to those in PSD2) would probably render market entry by non-bank affiliated PISPs and AISPs quite difficult.