Surge in bounced cheques reflects economic challenges in Turkey

Duvar English

The statistics of the Banks Association of Turkey (TBB) Risk Center on the use of cheques in 2023 revealed that the problems in commercial life, which has long been tossed under the economic crisis, continued in 2023.

The number of bounced cheques in 2023 increased by 18.7 percent to 146,770 and the amount of these cheques increased by 176.4 per cent to 57 billion Turkish liras ($1.9B) compared to 2022. The number of unique bounced cheque users increased by 18.4 per cent to 16,078.

The total number of cheques released to banks increased by 0.4 percent to 16.9 million, and their amount increased by 72.8 percent to 4.6 trillion liras. The number of individuals using cheques also increased by 8.6 per cent to nearly 559,000.

In December 2023 alone, the number of bounced cheques submitted increased by 23.8 percent to 10,881, and the total amount increased by 185.3 percent to 6.4 billion liras compared to December 2022.

On the other hand, the number of cheques paid after bounced transactions increased by 0.5 percent year-on-year to 30,027 cheques and decreased by 43.9 percent to 1,053 cheques in December.

On a provincial basis, Istanbul was by far the leader with 26.6 percent share in the number of cheques and 27.9 percent share in the amount. It was followed by the capital Ankara with a share of 8.3 per cent in number and 9.5 per cent in amount. Aegean İzmir province placed third with 6.6 per cent in number and western Bursa province placed third with 7.4 per cent in amount.