TurkishBank is a 100% Turkish-owned bank operating in Cyprus, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. It is one of the 13 banks out of more than 350 banks in the UK that are members of all three main payment systems. Established in 1901, the bank has been the only Turkish-owned British bank in London for 47 years. The group operates as Turkish Bank and Allied Turkish Bank in Cyprus, while serving under the name TurkishBank in Turkey and London.
The third generation of the management, Kurt and Bars Börteçene, are the grandsons of Tanju Özyol, who can be considered the bank’s second founder. We spoke with the young executives about the bank’s digital transformation and its ventures into the world of entrepreneurship.
– Your grandfather Tanju Özyol was a banker. Let’s start by talking about the bank’s establishment and history. What responsibilities do you have?
Kurt Börteçene: As you mentioned, TurkishBank Group is a special group, with our grandfather Tanju Özyol as the main shareholder. Hehas been leading the group since the late 1970s and can be considered its second founder.
– TurkishBank was founded in Cyprus in 1901. Tanju Özyol joined TurkishBank while working in the banking sector. Later, he acquired shares in the bank, correct?
Bars Börteçene: Exactly. Our grandfather Tanju Özyol spent his career in banking and has been enjoying his retirement for the past 10 years. Currently, our father, Hakan Börteçene, who has been with the group for nearly 30 years, is leading the group.
– What is your mother’s role?
Bars Börteçene: Our mother, Melis Börteçene, is a member of the board of directors at various institutions under the holding.
– At what age did you first become familiar with banking, and how did you start your career?
K.B: We adapted to the profession easily. Our biggest advantage was being born into a well-established institution that has been around for 120 years.
B.B: We grew up in the bank’s corridors, always having some knowledge of the business.
K.B: Our history is quite colorful, with many firsts. Our name in Cyprus is Türk Bankası, the oldest privately owned bank in the region, with only Ziraat Bankası being older than us.
– How did the bank’s journey in Turkey begin?
B.B: The bank came to Turkey in the 1980s, and from the early 1990s, branches in London and Istanbul transformed into banks. We only provide financial services through four banks, one brokerage firm, and one insurance company in Turkey, Cyprus, and the UK.
Bars Börteçene was born in 1994. He graduated from VKV Koç High School and the University of Nottingham, with a focus on technology entrepreneurship in the Business Department. He has been working in family businesses for six years. He took part in the TurkishBank UK Open Banking project and has been in Istanbul since the beginning of thepandemic. He is responsible for the digital transformation program under Turkish Digital Technologies, focusing on the T-Gate project.
Kurt Börteçene was born in 1992. He studied at Saint Pulcherie and the University of St Andrews, majoring in Business and Finance. He has been working in family businesses for six years, spending about half of this time in London, and has been based in Turkey for three years. He played an active role in the London payment systems project and is involved in the group’s digital transformation program. He is a board member of TurkishBank and Turkish Digital Technologies.
– While many banks are reducing their number of branches, what path is TurkishBank following?
K.B: As a group, we can be considered boutique-sized, and we define ourselves with the term “relationship banking.”
– What does relationship banking mean?
K.B: Most of our clients, like us, have been working with our bank for two to three generations. For us, our clients’ needs come first; we aim to meet their needs rather than just selling products.
– What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a boutique bank? K.B: We put a lot of thought into digital transformation and realized that there was no other way than to form alliances. For the past four years, we have been closely collaborating with fintechs and complementary sectors within this framework. In fact, T-Gate was born from this.
B.B: One of the effects of digital transformation is the rapid decline in banking services offered through branches, which presents significant opportunities for a boutique bank like ours with 7-8 branches in each country. In the end, regardless of our size, we all have a screen!
– Is being young and a young executive your biggest advantage?
K.B: Many large organizations around the world have initiatives called ‘Under 30.’ Companies bring young generations, often referred to as ‘digital natives,’ like us into their boards of directors. We were lucky that this happened naturally. Of course, being on the board of directors of institutions like banks at a young age is a significant responsibility. Butwe have been attending all the group’s board meetings as guests for six years, taking notes and observing, so we were relatively less challenged.
Turkish companies find us in London
– London is one of the world’s financial centers. What does being there add? London is also a fintech hub…
B.B: The UK, especially in governance, is a global reference point. As you mentioned, London is already the fintech hub of the world. Every fintech company that reaches a certain size dreams of starting its globalization journey here. This was the main driving force behind our collaboration with fintechs. For some time now, we have been guiding and supporting companies that come to London, and we still do, especially in the context of the challenges of opening accounts abroad. Turkish companies coming to London inevitably find us. Our main solution partner in our payment systems project in London is the global giant ACI company. But the real collaboration took off with open banking.
– Expectations have risen with open banking. Convenience and different solutions are developing in financial services. Are there any new developments?
B.B: Open banking is perhaps one of the most significant revolutions of our time. The 2008 crisis changed many things globally. Organizations, supervisors, and policymakers learned many lessons. One of their main goals was to enable individuals and organizations to access multiple financial institutions, products, and services from a single point, with the help of technology. From 2015 onwards, the UK moved faster than the rest of the world, and we gained experience.
Banks will become marketplaces!
– How will open banking enter our lives?
K.B: Open banking will fundamentally touch our lives in three areas: payments, loans, and savings. We saw that the part related to savings was the most suitable for our business model, and we created the brand ‘Open Investment,’ covering asset preservation, storage, and management. Open Investment is a system that allows individuals and organizations to access the products and services of many banks from a single point. It is certain that this will soon turn into a platform. This is actually the direction in which financial markets are evolving.
TurkishBank was named Turkey’s most innovative bank in the 2021 European Banking Awards category by the London-based International Banker magazine, thanks to its Open Investment, T-Gate, and mobile wallet projects.
– What changes will this new system bring to banks?
K.B: We need to transform into marketplaces, because today, consumers who are tied to a single point for other products or services can compare and choose the desired quality and price from a single point. Currently, to do this, they have to contact each institution individually. Open investment comes into play at this point, offering customers support such as research and education, and the final decision is made by the customer.
– What are your goals in bringing fintechs together under one roof?
B.B: We call this initiative T-Gate. We have brought together an international Entrepreneur Club that will host a select number of startups from fintechs and complementary sectors in the three countries where we operate, along with an Investor Club that will include investors interested in technology entrepreneurship.
– Did you decide on this during the pandemic?
B.B: We saw that the transformation and change accelerated with the pandemic. Within this framework, the first decision we made was to accelerate our transformation program even further. Looking back, it turns out that we made very good use of the pandemic period. For example, our two-year-old Open Investment program has grown the size of off-balance-sheet assets to 1.5 times the bank’s balance sheet in just two years. During the pandemic, we also prioritized staying in touch with our customers. Our research shows that most customers have not visited branches for more than a year. In this context, there is a global search for how to use our existing branches.
– Will the need for branches disappear completely?
K.B: We have been seeking an answer to this question for a long time. For example, our iconic building across from the Harbiye Military Museum has been hosting art exhibitions for quite some time. At the VK1 building at Vali Konağı Caddesi No: 1, those who visit the branch feel like they are in a special place. In the future, we see branches asplaces where individuals and organizations can discuss their projects and investments, participate in various events, and receive training. For this purpose, we have turned two floors of our headquarters building next to the Kanyon building into an Investor Club. There are no longer any vaults, teller areas, etc., because these spaces have not been needed for some time.
$1 BILLION: Total group size
500 PEOPLE: Number of employees in group companies
21: Total number of branches in 3 countries
– What changes have you noticed in customer behavior recently?
K.B: There is a rapid shift from deposits to capital markets
Open banking is the future
TurkishBank is a 100% Turkish-owned bank operating in Cyprus, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. It is one of the 13 banks out of more than 350 banks in the UK that are members of all three main payment systems. Established in 1901, the bank has been the only Turkish-owned British bank in London for 47 years. The group operates as Turkish Bank and Allied Turkish Bank in Cyprus, while serving under the name TurkishBank in Turkey and London.
The third generation of the management, Kurt and Bars Börteçene, are the grandsons of Tanju Özyol, who can be considered the bank’s second founder. We spoke with the young executives about the bank’s digital transformation and its ventures into the world of entrepreneurship.
– Your grandfather Tanju Özyol was a banker. Let’s start by talking about the bank’s establishment and history. What responsibilities do you have?
Kurt Börteçene: As you mentioned, TurkishBank Group is a special group, with our grandfather Tanju Özyol as the main shareholder. Hehas been leading the group since the late 1970s and can be considered its second founder.
– TurkishBank was founded in Cyprus in 1901. Tanju Özyol joined TurkishBank while working in the banking sector. Later, he acquired shares in the bank, correct?
Bars Börteçene: Exactly. Our grandfather Tanju Özyol spent his career in banking and has been enjoying his retirement for the past 10 years. Currently, our father, Hakan Börteçene, who has been with the group for nearly 30 years, is leading the group.
– What is your mother’s role?
Bars Börteçene: Our mother, Melis Börteçene, is a member of the board of directors at various institutions under the holding.
– At what age did you first become familiar with banking, and how did you start your career?
K.B: We adapted to the profession easily. Our biggest advantage was being born into a well-established institution that has been around for 120 years.
B.B: We grew up in the bank’s corridors, always having some knowledge of the business.
K.B: Our history is quite colorful, with many firsts. Our name in Cyprus is Türk Bankası, the oldest privately owned bank in the region, with only Ziraat Bankası being older than us.
– How did the bank’s journey in Turkey begin?
B.B: The bank came to Turkey in the 1980s, and from the early 1990s, branches in London and Istanbul transformed into banks. We only provide financial services through four banks, one brokerage firm, and one insurance company in Turkey, Cyprus, and the UK.
Bars Börteçene was born in 1994. He graduated from VKV Koç High School and the University of Nottingham, with a focus on technology entrepreneurship in the Business Department. He has been working in family businesses for six years. He took part in the TurkishBank UK Open Banking project and has been in Istanbul since the beginning of thepandemic. He is responsible for the digital transformation program under Turkish Digital Technologies, focusing on the T-Gate project.
Kurt Börteçene was born in 1992. He studied at Saint Pulcherie and the University of St Andrews, majoring in Business and Finance. He has been working in family businesses for six years, spending about half of this time in London, and has been based in Turkey for three years. He played an active role in the London payment systems project and is involved in the group’s digital transformation program. He is a board member of TurkishBank and Turkish Digital Technologies.
– While many banks are reducing their number of branches, what path is TurkishBank following?
K.B: As a group, we can be considered boutique-sized, and we define ourselves with the term “relationship banking.”
– What does relationship banking mean?
K.B: Most of our clients, like us, have been working with our bank for two to three generations. For us, our clients’ needs come first; we aim to meet their needs rather than just selling products.
– What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a boutique bank? K.B: We put a lot of thought into digital transformation and realized that there was no other way than to form alliances. For the past four years, we have been closely collaborating with fintechs and complementary sectors within this framework. In fact, T-Gate was born from this.
B.B: One of the effects of digital transformation is the rapid decline in banking services offered through branches, which presents significant opportunities for a boutique bank like ours with 7-8 branches in each country. In the end, regardless of our size, we all have a screen!
– Is being young and a young executive your biggest advantage?
K.B: Many large organizations around the world have initiatives called ‘Under 30.’ Companies bring young generations, often referred to as ‘digital natives,’ like us into their boards of directors. We were lucky that this happened naturally. Of course, being on the board of directors of institutions like banks at a young age is a significant responsibility. Butwe have been attending all the group’s board meetings as guests for six years, taking notes and observing, so we were relatively less challenged.
Turkish companies find us in London
– London is one of the world’s financial centers. What does being there add? London is also a fintech hub…
B.B: The UK, especially in governance, is a global reference point. As you mentioned, London is already the fintech hub of the world. Every fintech company that reaches a certain size dreams of starting its globalization journey here. This was the main driving force behind our collaboration with fintechs. For some time now, we have been guiding and supporting companies that come to London, and we still do, especially in the context of the challenges of opening accounts abroad. Turkish companies coming to London inevitably find us. Our main solution partner in our payment systems project in London is the global giant ACI company. But the real collaboration took off with open banking.
– Expectations have risen with open banking. Convenience and different solutions are developing in financial services. Are there any new developments?
B.B: Open banking is perhaps one of the most significant revolutions of our time. The 2008 crisis changed many things globally. Organizations, supervisors, and policymakers learned many lessons. One of their main goals was to enable individuals and organizations to access multiple financial institutions, products, and services from a single point, with the help of technology. From 2015 onwards, the UK moved faster than the rest of the world, and we gained experience.
Banks will become marketplaces!
– How will open banking enter our lives?
K.B: Open banking will fundamentally touch our lives in three areas: payments, loans, and savings. We saw that the part related to savings was the most suitable for our business model, and we created the brand ‘Open Investment,’ covering asset preservation, storage, and management. Open Investment is a system that allows individuals and organizations to access the products and services of many banks from a single point. It is certain that this will soon turn into a platform. This is actually the direction in which financial markets are evolving.
TurkishBank was named Turkey’s most innovative bank in the 2021 European Banking Awards category by the London-based International Banker magazine, thanks to its Open Investment, T-Gate, and mobile wallet projects.
– What changes will this new system bring to banks?
K.B: We need to transform into marketplaces, because today, consumers who are tied to a single point for other products or services can compare and choose the desired quality and price from a single point. Currently, to do this, they have to contact each institution individually. Open investment comes into play at this point, offering customers support such as research and education, and the final decision is made by the customer.
– What are your goals in bringing fintechs together under one roof?
B.B: We call this initiative T-Gate. We have brought together an international Entrepreneur Club that will host a select number of startups from fintechs and complementary sectors in the three countries where we operate, along with an Investor Club that will include investors interested in technology entrepreneurship.
– Did you decide on this during the pandemic?
B.B: We saw that the transformation and change accelerated with the pandemic. Within this framework, the first decision we made was to accelerate our transformation program even further. Looking back, it turns out that we made very good use of the pandemic period. For example, our two-year-old Open Investment program has grown the size of off-balance-sheet assets to 1.5 times the bank’s balance sheet in just two years. During the pandemic, we also prioritized staying in touch with our customers. Our research shows that most customers have not visited branches for more than a year. In this context, there is a global search for how to use our existing branches.
– Will the need for branches disappear completely?
K.B: We have been seeking an answer to this question for a long time. For example, our iconic building across from the Harbiye Military Museum has been hosting art exhibitions for quite some time. At the VK1 building at Vali Konağı Caddesi No: 1, those who visit the branch feel like they are in a special place. In the future, we see branches asplaces where individuals and organizations can discuss their projects and investments, participate in various events, and receive training. For this purpose, we have turned two floors of our headquarters building next to the Kanyon building into an Investor Club. There are no longer any vaults, teller areas, etc., because these spaces have not been needed for some time.
$1 BILLION: Total group size
500 PEOPLE: Number of employees in group companies
21: Total number of branches in 3 countries
– What changes have you noticed in customer behavior recently?
K.B: There is a rapid shift from deposits to capital markets
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