Job Discussion Forums

[La Reve]

I hope to bring a few thousand dollars with me when I start a job in Turkey. Do banks allow people to have accounts in US dollars? Or must I change all the funds to Turkish lira?

[Eagle Eyes]

You must change all your funds to Turkish Lira if you do not have a work permit...Banks only accept deposits for savings accounts here in Turkish Lira. My advice is bring USD travellers cheques to Turkey and not cash. Turkey is also very expensive now and a few thousand doolars is not enough to bring here...you should bring at least $5,000 to get settled here. Good luck in Turkey!

[Qaaolchoura]

I think that HSBC allows you to open an account in dollars. One thing you might consider is contacting the closest US HSBC branch and asking if you'd be able to access your funds in Turkey if you open an account in the States.

Regards,
~Q

[billy orr]

Once you have opened an account in Turkish Lira you can open an account in US dollars, Euros or GB pounds at all the main banks. The main banks also have websites in English. You do not need a residence permit to open an account, but you do need proof of address (for example utility bill in your name or rental contract). Here are links to three of the main banks.

http://www.akbank.com/index_en.html
http://www.garanti.com.tr/en
http://www.isbank.com.tr/English/

[La Reve]

Thank you all so much! Yes, I will have a real teaching visa, and real paperwork done legally.

Thanks for helping me with my move to Turkey.

Avec l'amour,
Moi

[billy orr]

You do not have to change your dollars into TL, but you may prefer to, as the interest rate for TL at 9.5% annual rate is much better.

[La Reve]

That 9.5 interest rate is a bit of a red flag to me. The real question is: When and how often is the Turkish lira devalued against the US dollar or Euro?

[Qaaolchoura]

It's a floating exchange rate. In the nearly a year I've been here it's been pretty consistently traded at between 1.7 and 1.8 lira to the dollar. I'm told that in the year prior to my arrival it was between 1.2 and 1.8 (though that was when the US economy was still in shock).

~Q

[Yogita]

I was able to open a turkish & Sterling GBP account with ING Bank. They do US Accounts too.

[La Reve]

Thanks for the info on ING!

[Yogita]

no problema

[sixthchild]

I think the Turkish banks in general have cleaned their act up in recent years and the economy is in pretty fair shape especially compared to a lot of the Eurozone countries.
Keeping the bulk of your savings in TL makes good sense, you get a much higher interest rate that more than offsets the cost of buying foreign currency when you need it.