Turkey’s domestic card scheme Troy, launched in April 2016 by a coalition of 10 local banks, now supports card transactions outside of the country through a deal with Discover Financial Services.
A reciprocal agreement between Discover and bank coalition BKM enables cards with the Troy logo to be accepted internationally on the Discover Card Network, and also provides acceptance for Discover and Diners Club International cards in Turkey, according to a Discover press release.
Turkey is one of the largest payment card markets in Europe, with 190 million cards in circulation and since its launch Troy is accepted at nearly all local payment terminals, ATMs and local e-commerce sites, with 16 local financial operators issuing cards with the Troy logo, the release said.
Previously Discover enabled partial support for Troy Network cards via a white-label solution, and Discover is now providing Troy’s members with centralized processing for international transactions, according to the release.
Nearly half of the international card transactions of Turkish consumers are online transactions for e-commerce, and the other half are physical transactions abroad, the release noted.
BKM, established in 1990 to provide domestic payment services to Turkish issuers and acquirers has 28 banks and two non-bank institutions as members.
“Turkey is an active travel market and today marks the start of increased card acceptance for Turkish tourists outside of Turkey, as well as for current Discover Global Network cardholders when visiting Turkey,” said Joe Hurley, Discover Global Network’s senior vice president of global business development.
Discover has similar acceptance agreements with local payment networks in Brazil, China, India, Japan, the Middle East, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Serbia, South Korea, Vietnam and throughout Europe, the press release noted.
