According to August 2026 data from the Interbank Card Center (BKM), the volume of card payments in Turkey rose 39% year-on-year to TL 2.99 trillion. With transaction count exceeding 2 billion and online card payments growing 41%, August stood out as a strong month for the card payment ecosystem.
Card count reaches 478 million, credit card growth leads the way
As of August 2026, the total number of cards in Turkey increased 4% year-on-year to 478 million. The number of credit cards grew 11% to 153.4 million, while debit cards rose 4% to 224.5 million. Prepaid cards saw a 5% decline, falling to 100.1 million. The double-digit growth in credit cards signals that consumers are increasingly turning to credit cards as their preferred payment method.
Total card payment volume approaches TL 3 trillion threshold
Total payments made via credit, debit, and prepaid cards in August reached TL 2,990.4 billion, up from TL 2,146.3 billion in the same period last year. Credit card payments grew 40% to TL 2,537 billion, while debit card payments also rose 40% to TL 445.9 billion. Prepaid card transaction volume declined 43% to TL 7.5 billion.
In terms of transaction count, total card payments grew 11% to nearly 1.99 billion. Credit card transactions rose 12% to 1,169.5 million, debit card transactions increased 13% to 789.1 million, and prepaid card transactions fell 39% to 33.2 million.
Online card payments grow 41%
Online card payments rose 41% year-on-year to TL 923.9 billion, up from TL 654.3 billion in the same period last year, once again confirming the continued growth of e-commerce and digital shopping. Online payments accounted for 30% of total card payments, while the number of online transactions increased 13% to 255.8 million.
81% of in-store payments are contactless
The use of contactless methods in in-store card payments remained high. Four out of every five in-store card transactions in August were contactless, with the contactless payment rate holding steady at 81%. The number of contactless transactions grew 9% year-on-year to 1,335.7 million, while the contactless payment volume rose 42% to TL 1,039.9 billion.
