Banks in Northern Cyprus: Licences, Documents, Transfers

Northern Cyprus has its own central bank, and that bank keeps the list of who counts as a bank. On 22 October 2026 the list holds 22 banks with 232 branches in five towns, and two international banking units (IBUs), which are banks for customers who live abroad. This page reads the list window by window.

The central bank’s rules say what a bank must ask a foreigner. They do not say which papers a given bank wants, so the page gives the rule, and the question to put to the bank.

Not advice. This page reads public registers and rules and writes the questions to ask. It does not say where to bank.

The list, window by window

A register of 22 banks and their branches is easier to read as a building. The tool below turns the central bank’s list into an office block, with one window for each entry.

What the tool shows. Names, codes, kinds and branch counts as the central bank’s register prints them on 22 October 2026. It shows no rates, fees or lists of papers, because the register has none.

Branch banks (Şube Bankası)

Six: Ziraat, Halk, TEB, Denizbank, Garanti and İş Bankası. These are banks from Türkiye that work here through branches.

Public deposit bank (Kamu Mevduat Bankası)

One: Kıbrıs Vakıflar Bankası. Akdeniz Garanti Bankası passed into it in 2005.

Private banks (Özel Sermayeli Banka)

Fifteen, from Koop Merkez (code 120) to Highrise (code 203). Highrise Bank was Kıbrıs Faisal İslam Bankası until its renaming in December 2021. Bankmare was Viyabank until October 2022.

The 232 branches sit in five towns: Lefkoşa 105, Girne 53, Gazimağusa 38, Güzelyurt 22 and İskele 14. Lefkoşa is Nicosia, Girne is Kyrenia, Gazimağusa is Famagusta and Güzelyurt is Morphou. The central bank’s own office is not counted.

Kurumunuz KKTC Merkez Bankası’nın bankalar listesinde yer alıyor mu?Is your institution on the central bank’s list of banks?

International banking units, banks for people abroad

An international banking unit is a bank set up under a 2008 law to work wholly with customers abroad. The central bank’s page for them shows two active units: Şeker International Banking Unit and Allied Turkish International Banking Unit.

Five units have lost their licence since 2020. The two newest are Mondial Private, on 17 June 2026, and Atlas, on 17 July 2026. The older three are Euro Deniz (2023), Fortress Bank (2021) and Cleveland (2020). They are the five bricked-up windows in the annex.

KKTC’de yılda 90 günden fazla bulunuyorum. Bu birimde hesap açılabilir mi?I spend more than 90 days a year in Northern Cyprus. Can an account be opened with this unit?

What a bank asks a foreigner, and what the rules leave out

The central bank’s identification regulation lists what a bank must record before it opens an account. For a person who is not a citizen, it comes to five things.

Who you are

Name, place and date of birth, parents’ names, nationality, the type and number of your ID (a passport or a national identity card), a specimen signature, a phone number, an e-mail address and your job.

Where you live

Your permanent address abroad, or your address in Northern Cyprus. The bank checks an address with a residence document and by contacting you.

Why, and where the money comes from

The bank records the purpose of the account and the source of the funds.

How it is checked

Against your own passport, a residence document or an ID that is valid in your country. Papers from abroad are confirmed by a consulate, or they carry an apostille, a stamp that certifies a foreign document.

Risk class

A customer who does not live in Northern Cyprus is in the regulation’s higher-risk class. The bank reviews such a customer every 6 to 12 months.

What the rules do not say

The regulation lists what a bank must record. It does not list which papers a particular bank wants. The home pages of the bank sites that could be read on 22 October 2026 show fee tariffs but no list of papers for non-residents. So the tool writes the question for you: pick a bank, set the switch, copy the Turkish message and send it.

Yabancı uyruklu olarak bireysel hesap açmak için hangi belgeler gerekiyor?Which documents do I need to open a personal account as a foreign national?

Yurt dışı adres belgemin konsolosluk veya apostil onaylı olması gerekir mi?Must the proof of my address abroad be certified by a consulate or carry an apostille?

Money in and out, cash, transfers and the account number

Holding foreign currency in Northern Cyprus is free, and so are transfers in and out through banks, as long as the names and addresses of sender and receiver are recorded. Banks tell the central bank about each transfer above 100,000 US dollars, with those names and addresses, and report the smaller ones as a total, by the 15th of the next month, under a 1997 notice that the central bank’s legislation page still lists.

Cash at the border

Up to 10,000 euro in cash, or the same in another currency or in Turkish lira, may be carried in or out. Above that, you declare the amount on arrival on a cash declaration form from customs staff. Taking more than 10,000 euro out goes only through a bank.

Where the cash rule comes from. The central bank’s notice of 18 June 2010, which its legislation page still lists (checked 22 October 2026).

The national bank account number (UBAN) has 28 digits.

Money sent through Western Union has its own page: Western Union in Northern Cyprus.

Nakit beyan formunu nereden alabilirim?Where can I get the cash declaration form?

Your deposit, what is covered and what lapses

Cover

The deposit insurance fund covers each account up to 20,000 euro, or the same in another currency, for individuals and charities.

Not covered

In a bank, the deposits of its owners with 10% or more of its capital, of its board chair and members, its general manager and deputies, and its auditors, and of their parents, spouses and children.

Untouched for 10 years

A deposit with no transaction for 10 years goes to the central bank, which lists the amounts above 10% of the monthly minimum wage in a public notice. If nobody claims a deposit within a year of the notice, it passes to the fund. An owner who applies to the central bank in time can still be paid.

Past failures

The fund’s own page lists 16 banks handed to it since 2000.

Hesabım mevduat sigortası kapsamında mı?Is my account under the deposit insurance?

Quick answers, and the sources

Every figure on this page is taken from the page named beside it. They were checked on 22 October 2026.

• What the figures are: the central bank’s and the fund’s own words and numbers, dated, with the Turkish sentence beside the key ones.
• What they are not: advice on where to bank, or a promise that a bank will open an account. Banks decide what papers they want, and rules can change.
• Turkish lines: plain questions to send to a bank. They are not quotes from any page.