Turkish citizens are increasingly canceling their Mastercard and Visa cards and switching to Troy. A recent surge in demand for the national payment system is a result of a nationwide boycott against companies or nations that support Israel in its ongoing war with Hamas.
As of early November 2023, about 19 million Troy cards were reportedly issued in Turkey. The transaction volume jumped to 50 billion Turkish liras after rising to 17.4 billion Turkish liras in October.
Turkey’s domestic payment cards launched six years ago are accepted in all ATMs and POS terminals in the country. In the summer of 2023, only 15 out of 85 million citizens used them. Now this figure has increased manifold.
The boycott movement in Turkey is gaining momentum. According to experts, this is a protest against the economic support provided by Western countries to Israel amid deadly hostilities in the Gaza Strip, which reflects growing anti-Israeli sentiment among Turkish people. Moreover, given that 4% of every purchase using Mastercard and Visa cards goes abroad, many Turks favor the national payment system.
Earlier, Turkish authorities refused the lion's share of imports from Israel. Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus said the country would not buy anything from now and even throw out what it had already bought. The same applies to states supporting Israeli forces, he signaled.
In late October, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan commented on the situation in the Gaza Strip. He accused Israel of committing “war crimes and called on the country's authorities and army to stop the "madness."
In response, a lot of Israeli supermarket chains halted the import of Turkish goods. Notably, Turkey was previously among the top five exporters to Israel. In 2022, imports from the republic topped $7 billion. However, rising geopolitical tensions may put an end to mutual trade, experts warn.
