In Turkey, finance and technology approaching each other in development

A new breed of Turkish financial technology company (fintech) is bringing cutting-edge high-tech solutions to customers at banks and financial services companies. 

While London and Berlin remain the main hotbeds of fintech innovation, Turkey is increasingly seeking to compete, experts told state-run Anadolu Agency. 

"Turkey seems to have a deeper-rooted and more organic approach to innovation," said Lu Zurawski, the head of Consumer Payments EMEA at ACI Worldwide, an international banking and payments specialist.
 
"Banks in Turkey are recognized as fast adopters of technology. The relationship between Turkish banks and fintech seems to be more collaborative and symbiotic," Zurawski added. 

Banks in Turkey now offer branches with no tellers, as consumers access their accounts and even make loans at computer terminals. Some Turkish banks automatically give customers a service number with a scanner device, while some Turkish ATMs ask customers for their mobile phone's identification number in order to grant access.

"Today, the rapid advance of technology and clients' swift adaptation have brought the technology and finance sectors closer, marking the emergence of the fintech sector in Turkey," said Ayse Nil Sar?göllü, the CEO of the Istanbul-based chip and payment technologies specialist Cardtek. 

"Our country is very open to innovations in payment systems. Consumers learn fast and have bigger demands. We at Cardtek have ongoing projects on mobile payment, wearable technologies, cloud-based systems and smart city solutions," Sar?göllü added. 

The transaction value in the Turkish fintech market is growing at a rate of 19 percent per year, according to researcher Statista, which forecasts that in 2016 the...