Standards/tr-qr-code
TR QR Code
Overview
TR QR Code is Turkey's national QR-payment standard, established by the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) + operated by BKM (Bankalararası Kart Merkezi — Interbank Card Center) [1, 2, [tr-cro]]. The Regulation on Generation and Use of TR QR Code in Payment Services was published in the Official Gazette dated 21 August 2020 (No. 31220) + entered force same date. BKM establishes and operates the TR QR Code Switching System, enabling TR QR Code transactions when payer + payee are from different institutions. TR QR Code supports POS, ATM, and e-commerce channels.
The structural distinction: TR QR Code's payment-method flexibility is structurally significant — payments can be made via:
- Payment cards (including TROY, Turkey's national card scheme).
- CBRT's system for Instant and Continuous Transfer of Funds (FAST).
- Mobile operator payments.
TROY is BKM's national card program that issued 2+ million cards in its first year + enables QR payments via TROY card — providing comfortable + practical payment experience without needing physical card. The TR QR Code + TROY + CBRT FAST + BKM combination creates Turkey's coordinated national payment-infrastructure modernisation — CBRT-coordinated, BKM-operated, multi-channel (cards + instant transfers + mobile operators).
History
Background — Turkish payment landscape TR:
- Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) — central bank.
- BKM (Bankalararası Kart Merkezi — Interbank Card Center) — bank-owned national payment infrastructure operator.
- TROY — BKM's national card program.
- FAST — CBRT's Instant and Continuous Transfer of Funds system.
August 21, 2020 — TR QR Code Regulation publication [2]:
- Official Gazette No. 31220.
- Enters force same date.
BKM TR QR Code Switching System [1]:
- Cross-institution TR QR Code transactions.
TROY card-program integration with TR QR Code [3]:
- 2M+ TROY cards in first year.
Multi-channel support [1]:
- POS + ATM + e-commerce.
Multi-payment-method support [1]:
- Cards + FAST + mobile operators.
Technical specification
TR QR Code is CBRT-regulated + BKM-operated Turkish national QR-payment standard with multi-method support [1, 2]:
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Regulator | Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) |
| Operator | BKM (Bankalararası Kart Merkezi) |
| Switching system | TR QR Code Switching System by BKM |
| Country | Türkiye |
| Currency | TRY (Turkish lira) |
| Regulation | Official Gazette No. 31220 (Aug 21, 2020) |
| Channels | POS + ATM + e-commerce |
| Payment methods | Cards (incl. TROY) + CBRT FAST + Mobile operators |
| TROY integration | National card scheme uses TR QR Code |
Use cases
POS card + QR payments [1]: Cardinal — brick-and-mortar.
ATM QR-payments [1]: ATM-channel-extended use.
E-commerce QR-payments [1]: Online checkout.
Cross-institution transactions [1]: BKM switching ensures interop.
TROY card-without-physical-card QR-payments [3]: Modern UX.
FAST instant-transfer-based QR-payments [1]: Account-to-account.
Mobile-operator-based QR-payments [1]: Carrier-billing-style.
Implementations & ecosystem
Regulator: Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT).
Operator: BKM (Bankalararası Kart Merkezi).
National card scheme: TROY.
Instant payment system: FAST (CBRT).
Major TR participating banks: Garanti BBVA, İşbankası, Akbank, Yapı Kredi, Halkbank, VakıfBank, Ziraat Bankası, others.
Mobile operators: Turkcell, Vodafone Turkey, Türk Telekom.
Fun facts
- August 21, 2020 Official Gazette regulation: Foundational regulatory milestone.
- Multi-method support: Cards + FAST + mobile operators.
- TROY 2M+ cards in first year: National card scheme.
- Multi-channel (POS + ATM + e-commerce): Comprehensive deployment.
- BKM TR QR Code Switching System: Cross-institution interop.
- CBRT FAST integration: Account-to-account-based QR.
- TROY QR-without-physical-card: Modern card-digitisation UX.
- TR's coordinated national payment-infrastructure: CBRT + BKM + TROY + FAST.
Comparison
| Feature | TR QR Code (TR) | thai-qr / PromptPay (TH) | qris (ID) | tanqr (TZ) | aani (UAE) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regulator | CBRT | BOT | BI | BoT | CBUAE |
| Operator | BKM | BOT + member banks | BI + ASPI | BoT | Al Etihad Payments |
| Type | National QR + multi-method (cards + FAST + mobile operators) | National QR + ISO 20022 + EMVCo | National QR | National EMV QR | National payment + QR |
| Regulation date | Aug 21, 2020 | 2016 | Aug 2019 | Sept 2022 | 2023 |
| National card integration | TROY | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Channels | POS + ATM + e-commerce | All | All | All | All |
Status
Active, comprehensive Turkish national QR + multi-method standard [1, 2]:
- CBRT regulator since Aug 21, 2020.
- BKM operator + TR QR Code Switching System.
- TROY national card integration.
- CBRT FAST integration.
- Multi-channel (POS + ATM + e-commerce).
Sources
- 1 TR QR Code — BKM
- 2 TR QR Code Regulation — CBRT
- 3 TROY — official
- lexology Turkish QR Code in Payment Services — Lexology
- stripe-tr TR payments — Stripe
- [tr-cro]
reports/countries/TR-turkiye.md
Deployments
Found in the following country reports (grep across reports/countries/):
- TR — TR-turkey.md