Money And Credit Cards

Money

Turkish Lira is the official currency of Turkey. Following a period of ramped inflation, the Turkish Central Bank decided to knock off six zeros from the currency to make the money easier to handle. This has made it much easier, especially for visitors to Turkey, as they no longer have to deal in ‘millions’ of Turkish currency.

Bank notes come in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100TL, while coins, called the Kurus (kr), come in 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 kurus pieces. There is also a 1TL coin.

Following the currency changes, the currency acronym was written as YTL (New Turkish Lira). This has been changed back to TL (Turkish Lira), though some may still write it as YTL. In Turkey, the currency acronym comes after the amount, e.g. 5TL.

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ATM’s, Credit Cards, Exchange Bureaus

ATMs are abundant and ATMs of different local banks are usually clustered together around centres, including at the Arrivals terminal at Atatürk Airport, Taksim Square, and Sultanahmet district.
The most reliable local banks in Istanbul include: Garanti Bankasi, Akbank, Is Bankasi and Yapi Kredi Bankasi.

Most Turkish bank machines are on the Cirrus and PLUS Networks. If you are planning to use your cards in Turkey and Istanbul, check the back of your card to make sure that your credit card is on these networks.

Credit cards are also widely used and accepted in Turkey and Istanbul. Please remember that purchases on credit card accounts are now also subject to a percentage fee, usually around 5%.
If you prefer to carry your own currency with you to Istanbul, you can also exchange it at Turkish currency exchange offices called ‘Döviz Bürosu’. There are exchange offices in the airport Arrivals terminal, Sultanahmet, Taksim and Istiklal Street and other areas.

Restaurants and hotel in highly touristic areas like Sultanahmet and Taksim also accept US Dollars or Euros but rates are often not competitive.