Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Speaking at the meeting, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that QR coded checks would directly and positively impact business life, becoming a new and very important financial tool for business.  Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We all know that future acquisition and sales are very important in commerce. This is a result of scarce capital in the real sector most of the time as well as the difficulty and cost of securing financial tools. Postdated cheques are an important financial tool for our companies. Let me give an example of the importance of postdated cheques in regards to domestic trade volume which, in 2014, reached 3.7 trillion TRY. We estimate that the postdated cheque use is roughly equal to two thirds of the domestic trade volume, approximately 2.4 trillion TRY. This is how large a portion of the economy is related to postdated cheques.”

- Turkey’s second financial innovation

Reporting that around 2 million postdated cheques are issued each month, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that after the lifting of prison sentences from charges pertaining to dishonored cheques they’ve opened up cheque records up to the private sector working in concert with the Credit Registry Bureau, “However, our companies did not utilize this system to a degree we anticipated.”

Stating that 95% of cheque registry queries were made by financial institutions, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “It was evident that companies wanted to avoid procedures or wanted to keep their cheque records private. To address these issues, we have developed the KKB (Kare Kodlu Çek, QR Coded Cheque) in order speed up the process and improve the system.

Turkey’s only financial innovation to date was the postdated cheque. QR coded cheque will be the 2^nd unique innovation produced by Turkey. This system will enable determining how trustworthy a cheque is in short order. This will also remove the risk of counterfeit or stolen cheques. I would like to thank the Credit Registry Bureau and Director Kasım Akdeniz..

KKB will also be transferring letters of indemnity to the internet soon. This will allow companies to get rid of paper records. We await the implementation of this innovation by the KKB with great anticipation.

I would also like to thank the Banks Union Director Hüseyin Aydın. Thanks to him, both the financial and the real sectors have found unity of vision and goal, showing that they can support each other.

Another person we owe thanks to is the Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan. He enabled the economy in slipping past the 2001 and 2009 economic crises, becoming one of the most confident economies in the world. Our greatest fear as the private sector used to be macro-economic instability. With Mr. Babacan at the helm, we are not worried if we are going to stumble.”

- TOBB President’s call to all companies

Urging all companies to use this system, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that competition is on the rise and will continue to elevate, pointing out that 2015 is a year which requires the utmost care and wariness, “Therefore, the real sector must learn to manage and to learn to live with risk as well as measuring risk. Companies which fail to do this will have difficulty staying up.”

- Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan stated that QR coded cheques would be an important innovation to the business life in Turkey. Reporting that previously, the system did not allow for the accurate gauging of an entity’s payment habits, Babacan stated that the appointment of risk centralization to the Turkey Banks Union has been instrumental in the positive registry keeping, pointing out that it is a revolution in many ways.

- TBB Director Hüseyin Aydın

Turkey Banks Union (TBB) Director Hüseyin Aydın reported that many banks are prepared for the QR coded cheques’ use. He stated that this would be a step towards a healthier and more secure economy.

Stating that QR coded and non-QR cheques would be in use and the option to use either would be up to the client, Aydın urged that all banks finalize their preparations to support QR coded checks.