Find the best way to send money from Türkiye

Sending 50,000 TL from Turkey through a bank app cost roughly 2,150 to 2,350 TL on our October 2026 numbers, whether the money went to Germany, the UK or the US. Most of that was a minimum SWIFT fee. The rest was the exchange rate. The same transfers through Wise cost 375 to 420 TL.

Money leaves Turkey for more reasons than most people expect: tuition for a child studying in Europe, savings for family who have moved abroad, wages sent home by people who came to work here, and bills for property or suppliers overseas. With the lira losing value year after year, every percent lost on the way matters more.

This guide prices the real options for a money transfer from Turkey: the big banks, the one online specialist that still serves Turkish residents, and the bank features worth knowing about. It covers costs across several routes, how long transfers take, the 0.2 percent tax on buying foreign currency, and what you need before you start.

Who Sends Money From Turkey

Most money sent from Turkey is not classic remittance. It is families paying for students abroad, foreign residents sending money home, people moving savings when they emigrate, and expats and businesses paying bills overseas. TÜİK counted 403,216 people emigrating from Turkey in 2025, and 301,877 foreign nationals moving in.

Who is sending matters, because each group gets hurt by a different part of the price. A worker sending 10,000 TL home feels the minimum bank fee more than anything else. A family moving 250,000 TL for a year of tuition loses most to the exchange rate. A business paying a supplier needs the money to land by a set date. The cheapest route for one is rarely the cheapest for all three.

Families paying for study and living costs abroad

Tuition, rent deposits and monthly living money for students are among the largest regular flows out of Turkey. The money mostly goes to euro accounts in Germany, the Netherlands and Italy, to the UK and to the US. Payments are often large, they come each semester, and many have hard deadlines set by a university or a visa office.

For this group the exchange rate and the arrival date matter more than the fee. A 1 percent margin on a 250,000 TL tuition payment is 2,500 TL, and a transfer that misses a deadline can cost far more than that.

Foreign residents sending money home

Turkey is home to large communities from Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East. Of the foreign nationals who moved to Turkey in 2025, TÜİK lists Turkmenistan first at 23.4 percent, then Azerbaijan at 8.3 percent, Uzbekistan at 6.9 percent, Egypt at 6.1 percent and Afghanistan at 5.8 percent. Many of them send part of their wages home.

These routes are the hardest to serve cheaply. Online specialists cover some of the currencies and not others, and where they do, prices vary a lot by route. On our quotes Wise charged 1.9 percent to Georgian lari but 4.8 percent to Azerbaijani manat, and returned no price at all for Ukrainian hryvnia, so a bank or cash service is sometimes the only option.

Emigrants, expats and small businesses

People who leave Turkey usually move savings after them, often in one or two large transfers. British and German retirees on the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts pay bills and mortgages back home. Freelancers and small firms pay software, suppliers and contractors in euros and dollars.

These are the transfers where a bank's exchange rate does the most damage. The SWIFT fee is capped at a few thousand lira, but the margin keeps growing with the amount.

What Turkish Banks Charge to Send Money Abroad

Turkish banks charge a SWIFT fee plus an exchange rate margin. Online, Akbank charges 0.6 percent with a 1,750 TL minimum and Yapı Kredi 0.7 percent with a 1,547.62 TL minimum, before tax. On top of that, the big banks' board rates sat about 1 percent above the market rate on 22 October 2026.

Sending money abroad from a Turkish bank is usually a two-step job. First you buy the foreign currency into a döviz account at the bank's selling rate, which carries a 0.2 percent tax. Then you send it by SWIFT and pay the transfer fee from your lira account, plus any correspondent bank charges if you choose to cover them. Our guide to international wire transfer fees explains how those charges stack up.

Fees exclude BSMV tax on the fee itself. Akbank fees from its product and service fees page (updated 13 January and 5 August 2026), Yapı Kredi from its personal fee list (updated 8 January 2026). Margins compare each bank's board selling rate with the market rate on 22 and 23 October 2026.

Ziraat Bankası

Ziraat, Turkey's largest state bank, handles foreign transfers through its branches by SWIFT or Western Union. Its English transfer page lists what you need: the recipient's name, address and IBAN or account number, the bank's name, SWIFT code and local bank code, the reason for the transfer, and who pays the charges. It does not print the SWIFT fee, which sits in Ziraat's commission list.

The rate is easier to check. At 18:06 on 22 October 2026, Ziraat's board sold euros at 56.2207 lira and dollars at 50.2284, against market rates of about 55.67 and 49.63. That is a margin of roughly 1.0 percent on euros and 1.2 percent on dollars, or 500 to 600 TL on a 50,000 TL transfer before any fee is added.

İş Bankası

İş Bankası charges a UFTM fee on international transfers that it says is set by the amount sent, but its SWIFT page gives no figures, so check the fee shown before you confirm. It quotes 1 to 2 business days for transfers abroad and lets you choose OUR, SHA or BEN, which decides whether you, the recipient or both pay the correspondent banks.

Its board rates on 22 October were among the tighter ones we saw: euros at 56.2096 lira, about 1.0 percent above the market rate, and dollars at 50.0174, about 0.8 percent above.

Garanti BBVA

Garanti BBVA sends SWIFT transfers from its mobile and internet banking under the Döviz Transferi menu, taking the fee from a lira account you choose. Transfers completed by 17:30 on a weekday get same-day value, and Garanti says money reaches the other bank within 3 days at most, unless correspondent banks hold it for sanctions checks.

In July 2026 Garanti became the first Turkish bank to send through Swift's new payment scheme, initially to the UK, Spain, Australia, the US and Germany, with the fee shown before you send and faster arrival on those routes. Its euro board rate at 13:37 was 56.2470 against a market rate of 55.7310, a margin of about 0.9 percent.

Akbank and Yapı Kredi

These two publish their SWIFT fees in full, and the minimums are the story. Akbank's mobile and internet fee is a flat 1,500 TL on transfers up to 15,000 TL, then 0.6 percent with a 1,750 TL minimum and a 3,000 TL cap. Its standard outgoing fee outside the app starts at 3,000 TL. Yapı Kredi charges 0.7 percent online with a 1,547.62 TL minimum and a 3,033.33 TL cap, and branch transfers start at 2,785.72 TL.

On a 10,000 TL transfer, Akbank's app fee alone is 15 percent of the money. Akbank's euro board rate also showed how spreads widen out of hours: just after midnight it sold euros at 57.0289 against a market rate of 55.7919, a margin of 2.2 percent, more than double the daytime level at other banks.

The exchange rate margin they do not show

The mid-market rate is the midpoint between buying and selling prices on the currency market, the rate you see on Google or Reuters. A bank sells you currency above it and keeps the difference. You can check this yourself: compare your bank's döviz satış rate with the mid-market exchange rate at the same moment.

Across routes the maths is the same. A 1 percent margin on 50,000 TL costs about 500 TL whether you buy euros, pounds or dollars, and at 2.2 percent it is 1,100 TL. On dollar board rates that evening, Vakıfbank and DenizBank sat about 2.7 to 2.8 percent above the market rate, so the bank you happen to use can easily double the cost.

The 0.2 percent tax and other extras

Buying foreign currency from a bank or exchange office in Turkey carries BSMV, the banking and insurance transactions tax, at 0.2 percent of the amount. It was raised to 1 percent in May 2020 and cut back to 0.2 percent that September. Bank fees carry BSMV as well, which is why most fee lists show amounts before tax.

Then come the banks in the middle. If you choose OUR so the recipient gets the full amount, correspondent charges are collected from you separately. ING Türkiye's own example shows a typical correspondent fee of €30, in a range of €5 to €60, on a €1,000 transfer. Our guide to foreign exchange costs on money transfers covers these hidden layers in more detail.

The Best Ways to Send Money From Turkey

For most people the cheapest way to send money from Turkey is Wise, paid from a Turkish bank account. Remitly and Xe do not accept senders based in Turkey. Among banks, ING Türkiye's free euro SWIFT transfers in its app and Akbank's FAST Uluslararası service are the cheapest bank options on some routes.

The list is short for a reason. Since 2023, Wise has limited what Turkey-based customers can do with its account, but it still lets them send international transfers from a Turkish bank account. Remitly lists 33 countries you can send from, and Turkey is not one of them. Xe's list of countries where you can register to send money does not include Turkey either.

Wise

Wise converts at the mid-market rate and charges one fee, shown before you pay. On 22 October 2026 that fee was 375.06 TL on 50,000 TL to euros, 396.96 TL to pounds and 419.79 TL to dollars, or 0.75 to 0.84 percent. On 250,000 TL it fell to 0.52 to 0.57 percent. Euro and pound transfers were estimated to arrive in about 5 minutes, dollars in about 24 hours.

There are limits you should know about. Since 2023, Turkey-based customers cannot top up a Wise balance in lira, hold or convert money in the account, receive money into Wise account details or get a Wise card. What still works is the part most people need: paying for a transfer from your Turkish bank account and having Wise deliver it abroad. Our full Wise review covers the account and its fees in detail.

Why Remitly and Xe are not options from Turkey

Both services send money to Turkey from abroad, which is why they appear on corridor pages into the country, but neither takes customers who live here. Remitly's sending countries cover the US, the UK, much of the EU, the UAE, Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore and a few others. Xe's registration list covers Europe, North America and Oceania, without Turkey.

If you are weighing a specialist against your bank more generally, our explainer on remittance services versus wire transfers sets out how the two models differ on price and speed.

Bank features worth knowing

Two banks have cut their own fees on some routes. Since 20 July 2026, ING Türkiye charges no ING fee and no correspondent fee on euro SWIFT transfers sent from its mobile and internet banking, with no limit on how many. For dollars and pounds, the first transfer each calendar month is free. The exchange rate and the 0.2 percent tax still apply, so check the rate ING gives you.

Akbank's FAST Uluslararası sends dollars, euros, pounds and Swiss francs from Akbank Mobil to the US, the UK, the euro zone and Switzerland, quickly and around the clock. Its fee is 0.4 percent with a 500 TL minimum and an 1,800 TL cap, well below Akbank's standard SWIFT fee, and transfers between individual accounts go up to $7,500.

Which option for which transfer

The right choice depends on the currency, the amount and the bank you already use. This is how the options line up on the jobs people actually do from Turkey.

How Much Does It Cost to Send Money From Turkey?

On our 22 October 2026 quotes, sending 50,000 TL cost 375 to 420 TL with Wise to euro, pound and dollar accounts, against roughly 2,150 to 2,350 TL through a bank app once the minimum SWIFT fee, a 1 percent margin and the 0.2 percent tax are counted. Small transfers are where banks hurt most.

The first table shows what Wise charged across three routes and three amounts. Because Wise converts at the mid-market rate, the fee is the whole cost of the transfer from Turkey.

Wise fees from its public price comparison data, collected 22 October 2026. Mid-market rates at the time: 55.67 lira per euro, 66.52 per pound and 49.63 per dollar.

Bank versus Wise at three amounts

For the banks we added the published online SWIFT fee, a 1 percent exchange rate margin, which is what Ziraat, İş Bankası and Garanti BBVA showed during the working day, and the 0.2 percent tax on buying the currency. The result is the same for euros, pounds or dollars, because the fee is in lira.

Bank totals exclude BSMV on the fee and any correspondent charges, so the real cost is a little higher. Fees from each bank's published fee list, October 2026.

Why small transfers cost so much from a bank

Minimum fees do the damage. Akbank's app charges 1,500 TL on anything up to 15,000 TL, and Yapı Kredi's online minimum is 1,547.62 TL, so a 10,000 TL transfer loses about a sixth of its value before it leaves the country. Wise has no minimum of that kind, which is why its percentage only climbs to about 2 percent on the same amount.

If you must use a bank for small amounts, the cheaper bank tools matter. Akbank's FAST Uluslararası has a 500 TL minimum, and ING Türkiye's euro transfers from its app carry no ING fee at all, though both still use the bank's exchange rate.

How the route changes the price

The euro and the pound are the cheapest currencies to send from Turkey online, and the dollar costs slightly more and takes longer. Further from those main routes, prices rise quickly. On 50,000 TL, Wise charged 935.05 TL to Georgian lari, or 1.9 percent, and 2,373.05 TL to Azerbaijani manat, or 4.8 percent, with an estimated 7 days to arrive.

On those routes the gap with a bank narrows, so get a quote from your own bank too. For currencies where Wise gave no price at all, such as the Ukrainian hryvnia in our check, a bank SWIFT transfer or a cash service is the only way to send.

What the gap adds up to over a year

Take a family sending 50,000 TL a month to a student, in euros, pounds or dollars. Through a bank app at the prices above, that is about 25,800 to 28,200 TL a year in costs. Through Wise it is about 4,500 to 5,040 TL. Switching saves roughly 20,700 to 23,700 TL a year, and the saving grows as the amounts rise with the lira.

How Long Does It Take to Send Money From Turkey?

A SWIFT transfer from a Turkish bank usually arrives in 1 to 3 business days. Wise estimated about 5 minutes for euro and pound transfers on our quotes, around 24 hours for dollars and Georgian lari, and up to 7 days for Azerbaijani manat. Cut-off times and holidays add delays.

Wise times are its own estimates on our 22 October 2026 quotes; bank times are the banks' published ranges.

How long each option takes

A SWIFT transfer passes from your bank to one or more correspondent banks and then to the recipient's bank, and each step adds time. İş Bankası quotes 1 to 2 business days for transfers abroad, and Garanti BBVA up to 3 days. Our guide on how long a wire transfer takes breaks down each stage.

Wise is faster on most international transfers from Turkey because it does not send a SWIFT message for every payment. You pay lira into Wise's local account, and it pays the recipient from its own account in the destination country, often through instant systems such as Faster Payments in the UK or SEPA Instant in the euro zone. That is why a euro transfer can land in minutes while a bank wire to the same IBAN takes a day or more.

What slows a transfer down

Bank cut-off times matter most: Garanti BBVA gives same-day value only to transfers completed by 17:30 on a weekday. Weekends stop the SWIFT system, and Turkish public holidays such as Ramazan Bayramı and Kurban Bayramı can close banks for several days at a time. Holidays in the destination country can hold the payout at the other end.

Checks add time too. Correspondent banks screen payments for sanctions, which can hold transfers on some routes for days. Your first transfer with a new provider can take longer while it verifies your identity, and a large transfer may prompt questions about where the money came from. Paying Wise by FAST from your bank is near instant, while larger amounts sent by EFT only move during banking hours.

How to Send Money From Turkey, Step by Step

To send money from Turkey online, open a Wise account with your Turkish address, verify your ID, enter the amount and the recipient's bank details, then pay in lira from your Turkish bank account. For a bank SWIFT transfer, buy the currency in your account first, then send it with the recipient's account details and SWIFT code.

What you need before you start

You need a Turkish bank account in your name and ID: your TC kimlik number, or for foreign residents a passport and residence permit. Providers and banks may ask for proof of where the money came from on larger transfers, such as a property sale contract, a payslip or a tuition invoice. Banks also ask the purpose of every transfer abroad.

For the recipient you need their full name exactly as it appears on the account, plus the right local details: an IBAN in Germany and the rest of the euro zone, a sort code and account number in the UK, or a routing and account number in the US, with the bank's SWIFT code for a bank transfer. Our guide to the bank details needed for a money transfer lists the format for each country. Getting these right first time is the best way to avoid a stuck payment.

With Wise

1. Create an account with your Turkish address and verify your identity.
2. Enter the amount in lira and check the amount your recipient will get.
3. Add the recipient's name and bank details.
4. Pay in lira by bank transfer from your Turkish bank account.
5. Track the transfer in the app and share the receipt with your recipient.

Because Turkey-based customers cannot hold a Wise balance, each transfer is paid as you go from your bank. Our walkthrough on how to use Wise to transfer money internationally shows each screen in more detail.

From your Turkish bank's app

If you transfer money from Turkey through your bank's app, first buy the currency you want to send into a döviz account, ideally during working hours when board rates are tighter. Then open the SWIFT or Döviz Transferi menu, enter the recipient's name, address, IBAN or account number and SWIFT code, choose who pays the correspondent charges, and check the fee screen before you confirm. Send before your bank's cut-off time if you want same-day value.

If your bank has a cheaper option, use it. At Akbank that is FAST Uluslararası for dollars, euros, pounds and francs, and at ING Türkiye it is the free euro transfer in the app. Either can beat the standard SWIFT fee by a wide margin.

With cash

You can still send money abroad in cash through Western Union at banks such as Akbank and Garanti BBVA, and for some senders without a Turkish bank account that is the main option. The recipient can collect cash at an agent abroad, often within minutes. It is also usually the most expensive way to send, with fees and exchange rates set by the cash service.

If you have a Turkish bank account, paying online is usually cheaper and gives you a record of the transfer, even when your recipient would rather collect cash.

Limits, Tax and Reporting When You Send Money From Turkey

There is no general legal cap on how much an individual can send abroad from Turkey, but banks set their own limits and ask the purpose of each transfer. There is no remittance tax. Buying foreign currency from a bank carries a 0.2 percent BSMV tax, and the bank's fees carry BSMV too.

How much you can send

Limits depend on the bank, the channel and the service. Akbank's FAST Uluslararası allows up to $7,500 between individual accounts, while standard SWIFT transfers through internet or mobile banking usually carry higher daily limits, and a branch can handle larger sums. Wise sets its own limits by currency and may ask for more documents as amounts grow.

For a large one-off payment, such as a house deposit or a year of tuition, verify your account well before the deadline and ask about upper limits first. Our guide to transferring large sums internationally covers how to plan a big transfer.

Is there a tax on sending money from Turkey?

Turkey does not tax money sent abroad as such. The tax people meet is BSMV on buying foreign currency, charged at 0.2 percent of the amount by banks and exchange offices. It was raised to 1 percent in May 2020 and cut back to 0.2 percent by presidential decision that September, and it still applies in 2026. Bank fees carry BSMV on top, which is why fee lists usually show figures before tax.

This is general information rather than tax advice, so check with an accountant on large, unusual or business transfers, especially where property or an inheritance is involved.

Reporting rules and the questions banks ask

Banks and payment firms in Turkey must report suspicious transactions to MASAK, the Financial Crimes Investigation Board, and there is no minimum amount for a suspicious transaction report. Expect your bank to ask the purpose of a large transfer and, if you pick "other", to ask for a written explanation. Splitting a transfer into smaller amounts to avoid questions is a red flag, not a workaround.

Is It Safe to Send Money From Turkey?

Sending money from Turkey through a bank or a regulated provider is safe. Banks are supervised by the BDDK, payment and e-money institutions by the central bank, and money laundering rules are enforced by MASAK. Wise serves Turkey through Wise Payments Limited, which is authorised by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority.

Who regulates money transfers in Turkey

The BDDK, Turkey's Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, licenses and supervises banks such as Ziraat, İş Bankası, Garanti BBVA, Akbank and Yapı Kredi. The central bank, TCMB, licenses and supervises payment and electronic money institutions. MASAK sets the identity checks and reporting duties every bank and payment firm must follow.

Wise has limited its account features for Turkey-based customers since 2023, though transfers paid from a Turkish bank account still work. Whatever service you use, check who holds your money and who regulates it. Our guide to the safest way to send money internationally explains what to look for.

Scams that target senders

The risk is rarely the bank or the provider. It is the person asking for the money. Common scams in Turkey include callers posing as police officers or prosecutors who tell you to move your savings to a "safe" account, fake rental listings that ask for a deposit abroad, investment schemes promoted on social media, and online romances that end in a request for money.

Once a SWIFT transfer has been credited abroad, getting it back depends on the recipient bank's cooperation, and a cash collection is almost impossible to reverse. Slow down whenever someone adds urgency.

The Routes People Send on Most From Turkey

The busiest routes out of Turkey run to Germany and the rest of the euro zone, the UK and the US, mostly for study, family and property. Azerbaijan, Georgia and Central Asia matter for foreign residents sending money home, but online options there are thinner and more expensive, so compare a bank quote on those routes.

Turkey to Germany and the euro zone

Germany has the largest Turkish community abroad, and euro transfers are the cheapest to send from Turkey online. On 50,000 TL, Wise delivered €891.40 for a 375.06 TL fee, with an estimated arrival of about 5 minutes into an IBAN. ING Türkiye customers can also send euros from the app with no bank fee. See the Turkey to Germany page for live prices.

Turkey to the UK

UK transfers need a sort code and account number, or an IBAN for a bank transfer by SWIFT. Wise delivered £745.73 on 50,000 TL for a 396.96 TL fee, estimated at about 5 minutes, and Garanti BBVA's faster Swift scheme covers the UK as one of its first five countries. Compare today's rates on the Turkey to UK page.

Turkey to the US

Dollar transfers need the recipient's routing and account number, and SWIFT payments in dollars often pass through a US correspondent bank that can take its own cut. Wise delivered $998.89 on 50,000 TL for a 419.79 TL fee, with an estimated 24 hours to arrive. Check prices on the Turkey to US page.

Turkey to Azerbaijan and Georgia

Close family and business ties make these busy routes, but they cost more online. On 50,000 TL, Wise charged 4.8 percent to Azerbaijani manat with an estimated 7 days, and 1.9 percent to Georgian lari with about 24 hours. A bank SWIFT transfer can be competitive on the manat route, so compare both. Start with the Turkey to Azerbaijan page.

Bottom Line

The cheapest way to send money from Turkey on the main routes is Wise, paid in lira from your Turkish bank account. Turkish banks' minimum SWIFT fees make small transfers very expensive, and their exchange rate margins add about 1 percent by day and more at night. If you stay with a bank, use its cheaper tools, such as ING Türkiye's free euro transfers or Akbank's FAST Uluslararası, buy currency in working hours, and always compare the amount that arrives rather than the fee.

Sources

• Wise public price comparison data, TRY to EUR, GBP, USD, GEL and AZN, collected 22 October 2026
• Wise: Restrictions for customers based in Türkiye
• Wise Türkiye: send money abroad from Turkey
• Remitly: where you can send money from
• Xe Help: countries where you can register to send money
• Akbank: product and service fees (Ürün ve Hizmet Ücretleri)
• Akbank: FAST Uluslararası
• Yapı Kredi: personal product and service fees
• Garanti BBVA: foreign currency transfer (SWIFT)
• Garanti BBVA: new generation payments on SWIFT transfers to 5 countries (July 2026)
• İş Bankası: foreign currency transfer (SWIFT)
• Ziraat Bank: foreign exchange transfer (SWIFT)
• ING Türkiye: international foreign currency transfer (SWIFT)
• Foreks: bank exchange rates, 22 October 2026
• Habertürk: BSMV on currency and gold purchases cut back to 0.2 percent (September 2020)
• Ekonomist: TÜİK 2025 international migration statistics