Digital Banking

Card Systems

As of the end of 2024, there were a total of 13.44 million Ziraat Bank credit cards in circulation, with a 10.41% share in terms of the number of credit cards and a 12.73% market share in terms of monthly turnover. The Bank is expected to maintain its leadership in this area in the medium and long term. Having reached 44.45 million debit cards in the same period, the Bank also maintained its leadership in the sector in terms of its market share of monthly shopping turnover, with a 21.93% share.
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As of the end of 2024, there were a total of 1.77 million Ziraat Bank member businesses and 806,000 physical terminals. With a total turnover of TL 809 billion in member businesses in the fourth quarter of 2024, the Bank maintains its sector leadership with a 17.14% market share in turnover as of the end of 2024.
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In the field of card payment systems, Ziraat Bank introduced a number of products and services in 2024 which were tailored to market conditions and setting the Bank apart in the sector by offering a wide array of new features.

Efficiency-Oriented Operational Processes

Within the scope of its operational activities, Ziraat Bank has successfully implemented a wide range of systemic improvements in order to offer its customers the best experience in all branches and digital channels.
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Thanks to the automation endeavors carried out in line with the goals of streamlined back office operations by simplifying screens and processes and increasing the efficiency of operational processes through the addition of new and user-friendly functions to business processes, around 273 million transactions were carried out through the Operations Center (OPIM) in the 2024 operating period.
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The main improvement and development activities carried out by the OPİM in 2024 are listed below:

• The reconciliation information requests, most of which were prepared manually by the branches, were fulfilled with a single report and the report titled “Audit Firms Reconciliation Information” was made available to all corporate and commercial branches and regional offices of the Bank via Raportal.

• The “Request Payment” function, operated by the Interbank Card Center (BKM) and providing a practical solution for money transfers, was made available in the Internet Banking and Ziraat Mobile Money Transfers menu.

• With the improvement made in the collection of loan enforcement proceedings;
  It has been ensured that the collection for loan enforcement proceedings is performed automatically in case there are 100-102-106 coded foreclosure blocks (for which a Bank pledge receivable has been reported) on the customer account. It has been ensured that the foreclosure block(s) are defined in the same way in case of a balance remaining in the account following the collection for loan enforcement proceedings. It has been ensured that foreclosure block(s) are automatically removed if no balance is available in the account.

• As part of the endeavors to develop the Innovation in Operations (OPİ) functions, the integration of the following transaction types into OPİ was completed; Approval of Bulk Transfer/EFT Files Uploaded from SFTP from the OPİ, Bulk Foreign Currency Transfer, Bulk Advance Import Transfer, Bulk Import Transfer Against Goods.

• Payments made through the Central Payment method were allowed from the Bank’s ATMs.

• The Secure Payment System was integrated with the FAST system operated by the CBRT, and the upper limit of the FAST transaction amount specific to the Secure Payment Transaction was set at TL 2 million, enabling piecemeal payments.

• ATM cash disputes were allowed to be submitted through all channels.

• With the improvement made in cash retention disputes in relation to TAM ATMs;- When responding through the Branch/Money Group Centers Approval Transactions Screen, a panel integrated with the SKITMTKK-Cash Difference Reconciliation screen is opened, and the records of the TAM ATM where the retention is experienced are listed.When the transaction is approved by selecting the difference(s) for the disputed transaction, the cash difference is closed automatically.As a result of the favorable or partial favorable closure of the objection by the user of Bileşim A.Ş., the disputed amount is automatically returned to the customer account.

• An arrangement has been made for domestic subsidiaries to request authorization by sending a job request via the Anahtar system. User and authorization management of Ziraat Katılım users’ Anahtar accounts has been automated.

• Lien transfer transactions have been allowed to be sent via FAST.

• In the event of a customer’s death, based on the death information received from the Identity Sharing System, an automated batch process running daily has been implemented to remove the restriction block from the customer’s account.

• Deposit transfer letters for accounts under lien, received from the RA, are now rendered legible by a robotic system, with the entry process subsequently carried out and automatically approved by the system.

• Corporate Credit Card collections can now be made through the OPIM.

• Bulk EFT-Transfer from more than one debtor account has been enabled.

• While making a request from the Work Request Entry screen in Card-to-Card Transfer and Credit Card Receivable Balance Refund transactions received by the OPIM BB workflow system, the positive balance on the relevant credit cards can be monitored and the credit balance refund transactions can be completed automatically by transferring it to another card.

• Instant Bulk Money Transfer Structure has been integrated into the OPI, enabling instant bulk money transfers.

• Endeavors on the process of opening accounts and issuing cards to the paymasters of the institutions affiliated to the General Directorate of Accounting was concluded.

• Deposit Research response letters are now sent via the Registered Electronic Mail (REM).

• Customers who experienced cash retention during transactions at Ziraat Bank and other banks’ TAM ATMs have been allowed to file a cash dispute directly through the ATM where the transaction took place.

• Corporate customers have been allowed to access the Request Payment system via Internet Banking and/or by downloading the current version of Ziraat Mobile, and to send payment requests and approve incoming requests within their existing authorizations.

• The “Scanning Checks with Artificial Intelligence Technology” project, which was implemented as part of endeavors to continuously update business processes in line with current technological developments and innovative solutions, increase efficiency in operational processes, and improve customer experience, was completed.

• In the Reading Checks with Artificial Intelligence Technology project, which was developed using the Deep Learning method and included algorithms continuously training themselves with new data, with the automatic transfer of all fields on the check, including handwritten fields, to the system;Work flows with high data accuracy are established.The data on the check can be processed faster.Efficiency is increased by minimizing manual processes.

• Expropriation Transactions, which were in the pilot implementation stage, have started to be carried out by the OPİM BB.

• The Job Request Initiation via E-Mail project, which was developed to respond quickly to customer requests and to increase the quality of service offered to customers by ensuring effective portfolio management, has been completed. Thanks to the improvement, portfolio representatives can send an email during customer visits to automatically file a job request. It has been allowed to take the necessary actions by following the process both through ZFG Mobile and Anahtar.

Data Analytics Projects Providing Added Value

• The evaluation screen has been made more user-friendly, and the Early Warning Note, “High Risk Customer” definition, Delay Estimation Probability, Default Probability, TCR (Trade Credit Rating), and TII (Trade Indebtedness Index) information have been added and made compatible with current developments.

• With these changes, it is aimed to contribute to the effective monitoring and maintenance of credit quality by enabling the existing portfolio to be monitored together.

• As a result of the mentioned improvements, the final credit assessment result, which is proposed as positive/negative by the system for all customers in the current structure, has been made to be decided by our Branches for customers in the high-risk category.

• It has been made comparable with the positive/negative evaluations of customers in previous evaluation periods, and ease of access to the evaluations of previous periods has also been provided in a similar structure.

In order to ensure effective management of non-performing loans, the existing GAT module has been improved. In this context;

• Based on the opinions and evaluations of the relevant business units, the block types that prevent collection have been reduced, and a development has been initiated to subject the overdue receivable to collection over the unrestricted amount to be calculated.

• Thus, preliminary work for the transition to a parametric structure to manage the blocks placed on customer accounts has been initiated.

In our Law Office practice, which is in operation for the collection of our receivables with low balances transferred to follow-up accounts through administrative means, the action period, which was 90 days after the transfer, has been reduced to 60 days, saving time and cost.