04.06.2015 Ankara
TOBB, along with the Credit Registry Bureau, held an inaugural meeting attended by TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu and Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan for QR Coded Cheques which will enter into circulation on June 15th in order to lower the risks of dishonored checks as well as increasing the health of the domestic commerce market.
Speaking at the meeting, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that QR coded checks would directly and positively impact business life,
becoming a new and very important financial tool for business. Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We all know that future
acquisition and sales are very important in commerce. This is a result of
scarce capital in the real sector most of the time as well as the difficulty
and cost of securing financial tools. Postdated cheques are an important
financial tool for our companies. Let me give an example of the importance of
postdated cheques in regards to domestic trade volume which, in 2014, reached
3.7 trillion TRY. We estimate that the postdated cheque use is roughly equal to
two thirds of the domestic trade volume, approximately 2.4 trillion TRY. This
is how large a portion of the economy is related to postdated cheques.”
- Turkey’s second financial
innovation
Reporting that around 2 million postdated cheques are issued each month,
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that after the lifting of prison sentences from charges
pertaining to dishonored cheques they’ve opened up cheque records up to the
private sector working in concert with the Credit Registry Bureau, “However,
our companies did not utilize this system to a degree we anticipated.”
Stating that 95% of cheque registry queries were made by financial
institutions, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “It was evident that companies wanted to
avoid procedures or wanted to keep their cheque records private. To address
these issues, we have developed the KKB (Kare Kodlu Çek, QR Coded Cheque) in
order speed up the process and improve the system.
Turkey’s only financial innovation to date was the postdated cheque. QR
coded cheque will be the 2nd unique innovation produced by Turkey.
This system will enable determining how trustworthy a cheque is in short order.
This will also remove the risk of counterfeit or stolen cheques. I would like
to thank the Credit Registry Bureau and Director Kasım Akdeniz..
KKB will also be transferring letters of indemnity to the internet soon.
This will allow companies to get rid of paper records. We await the
implementation of this innovation by the KKB with great anticipation.
I would also like to thank the Banks Union Director Hüseyin Aydın.
Thanks to him, both the financial and the real sectors have found unity of
vision and goal, showing that they can support each other.
Another person we owe thanks to is the Deputy Prime Minister Ali
Babacan. He enabled the economy in slipping past the 2001 and 2009 economic
crises, becoming one of the most confident economies in the world. Our greatest
fear as the private sector used to be macro-economic instability. With Mr.
Babacan at the helm, we are not worried if we are going to stumble.”
- TOBB President’s call to all
companies
Urging all companies to use this system, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that competition is on the rise and will continue to elevate, pointing
out that 2015 is a year which requires the utmost care and wariness,
“Therefore, the real sector must learn to manage and to learn to live with risk
as well as measuring risk. Companies which fail to do this will have difficulty
staying up.”
- Deputy Prime Minister Ali
Babacan
Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan stated that QR coded cheques would be an
important innovation to the business life in Turkey. Reporting that previously,
the system did not allow for the accurate gauging of an entity’s payment habits,
Babacan stated that the appointment of risk centralization to the Turkey Banks
Union has been instrumental in the positive registry keeping, pointing out that
it is a revolution in many ways.
- TBB Director Hüseyin Aydın
Turkey Banks Union (TBB) Director Hüseyin Aydın reported that many banks
are prepared for the QR coded cheques’ use. He stated that this would be a step
towards a healthier and more secure economy.
Stating that QR coded and non-QR cheques would be in use and the option
to use either would be up to the client, Aydın urged that all banks finalize
their preparations to support QR coded checks.