Kuveyt Türk for Foreigners: SWIFT, IBAN, Documents and Gold
What to give a sender abroad, how to read a Kuveyt Türk IBAN, the papers for each ID number, and what Golden Days do with your jewellery.
Table of Contents
Kuveyt Türk is a participation bank in Türkiye: it works without interest, and Kuwait Finance House owns 57.81 % of it. To receive money from abroad you need an account there; give your sender your name, your 26-character IBAN, the bank’s name and the SWIFT code KTEFTRISXXX. To open the account, foreigners apply by video call in the app and finish at a branch, with a passport or residence permit and a document for your residence.
In short · checked 18 October 2026
SWIFT KTEFTRISXXX, and the IBAN starts TR·· 0020 5.
- Money from abroad – you must be a customer; the sender needs your name, your IBAN, the bank’s name and the SWIFT code.
- Charge on arrival – the bank’s fee table lists 0.23 % of the amount, at least 52 and at most 740 USD (line dated 05.03.2025); banks on the way may take their own share.
- Documents – a passport or residence permit, a foreigner ID number or a tax number, and a document for your residence.
- No interest – current accounts pay no profit share; participation accounts share profit and loss, and the return is set at maturity.
- TMSF – participation accounts are covered up to 1,200,000 TL per person at each participation bank.
Money from abroad · checked 18 October 2026
The slip for your sender
These are the details Kuveyt Türk tells foreign senders to use. Tap a part of the IBAN to see what it is: the dots stand for digits only you and your bank know.
Your IBAN · 26 characters, printed in groups of four
- Country · TR TR is Türkiye’s country code. Every Turkish IBAN starts with it.
- Check digits · 2 digits Two digits worked out from the rest of the number (the MOD 97-10 method). A typing mistake almost always makes them fail, so a bank can catch it.
- Bank code · 00205 00205 is Kuveyt Türk. TCMB gives each bank its code; Kuveyt Türk’s is 0205, written as five digits.
- Reserve digit · 0 One digit kept for later use. TCMB’s rule says it is 0 for every account until that changes.
- Account number · 16 characters Your account at the bank, filled with zeros on the left to make 16. Only the bank can give it to you: find it in the app or the Internet Branch.
Yours is a Kuveyt Türk IBAN if characters 5 to 9 read 00205: it starts TR·· 0020 5.
What to send your sender
- Recipient name
- Your full name, as on the account
- Recipient IBAN
- Your 26-character IBAN, starting with TR
- Bank name
- KUVEYT TURK KATILIM BANKASI A.S.
- SWIFT / BIC
- KTEFTRISXXX
- Bank address
- Büyükdere Cad. No: 129/1 34394 Esentepe İstanbul Türkiye
Some forms take the 8-character code KTEFTRIS: it is the same bank. The bank’s overseas-transfer page lists no address; the one above is from its trade-registry page, for forms that ask.
How long a SWIFT transfer takes, says the bank
- Sent before 17:00 can be completed within 2 business days
- Sent after 17:00 about 3 business days on average
- Weekends the SWIFT system does not run
- Wrong SWIFT code the bank rejects the transfer and the money goes back to the sender
The bank’s charge on money that arrives
0.23 % of 1,000 USD is 2.30 USD, below the minimum, so the minimum of 52 USD applies.
- 1,000 USD 52 USD
- 10,000 USD 52 USD
- 50,000 USD 115 USD
- 400,000 USD 740 USD
The bank’s fee table, line “Swift Paying – Coming to an Account, From a Bank Abroad” (in Turkish “Hesaba Gelen, Yurtdışı Bankadan”): 0.23 %, minimum 52, maximum 740 USD, tax included, per transfer; dated 05.03.2025, checked 18.10.2026. The table names the branch and the XTM as the channel and lists amounts in US dollars only, so for other currencies, or to know whether the line applies to your transfer, ask the bank. Banks on the way may take their own charges.
Money from abroad who pays what
The money reaches you through the SWIFT network, often via one or more correspondent banks. A SWIFT transfer submitted before 17:00 can be completed within two business days, the bank says on its overseas-transactions page; after 17:00 it takes three on average, and the system does not run at weekends. A wrong SWIFT code gets the transfer rejected, and the money goes back to the sender.
Who pays the charges? The sender’s form has a box for it
The bank explains the three codes like this.
SHA · shared
The sender pays the sending bank’s charges; the charges of correspondent banks on the way fall on you and come off the amount. Kuveyt Türk’s own line for money that arrives is in the slip above.
BEN · beneficiary
Every charge, including the sending bank’s, is taken out of the amount, so less arrives than was sent.
OUR · the sender
The sender pays all the charges on the way. The bank’s fee table still lists its own charge for money arriving in an account, so ask how it is taken.
A Kuveyt Türk IBAN always starts TR·· 0020 5.
The money is in euros or lira. What does the bank charge?
The fee table gives the line for money arriving in an account in US dollars only. For other currencies, ask the bank before you count on a figure: this page does not convert it.
Where do I find my IBAN?
In Kuveyt Türk Mobile or the Internet Branch, or by calling 444 0 123, says the bank’s FAQ. TCMB’s rule says it is printed in groups of four on paper and written without spaces in online forms.
A transfer has to be sent back or changed. Does that cost anything?
The fee table lists 172 USD for returning a SWIFT transfer and 172 USD for changing one (dated 05.03.2025). Check the details before the sender presses send.
The documents by the number you apply with
The bank’s become-a-customer page lets foreigners apply with one of three numbers: a foreigner ID number (YKN, for people with a residence permit or another Turkish ID), a tax number (VKN), or a Blue Card. Each comes with its own list of papers. Pick yours.
Which number will you apply with?
Foreigner ID (YKN)
- Who you are your passport, residence permit or international protection document
- Proof of residence a work permit or one of the temporary protection documents
- At the branch every document you showed in the video call
Tax number (VKN)
- Who you are your passport
- Proof of residence your residence card, an invoice in your name from the last three months, and any citizenship document that shows your address (students: also a student certificate)
- At the branch every document you showed in the video call
Blue Card
- Who you are your passport
- Proof of residence your residence card, an invoice in your name from the last three months, and any citizenship document that shows your address (students: also a student certificate)
- At the branch every document you showed in the video call
Not living in Türkiye? The current-account page lists a passport, proof of address from home (a certificate of residence, a bill for a service from the last three months, or a document from a public body), and a certificate of your tax number from a Turkish tax office.
On the bank’s current-account list for foreign residents, a residence permit counts twice: as your ID and as proof of address. The other proof of address it takes is a copy of a bill from the last three months for a service that requires a subscription.
Opening the account video call first, then the branch
You start in Kuveyt Türk Mobile with a video call to the bank, and you finish at a branch. The bank’s page sets a deadline for the second step.
- Have your papers readyPick the list for your number above and keep the documents next to you.
- Apply by video callIn Kuveyt Türk Mobile, start the application and the video call; the representative asks for a photograph of your documents.
- Read the messageAfter the call the bank sends a message; it names the branch where you finish.
- Go to that branch within two monthsCount from the day of the positive message, and bring every document the representative photographed. After two months, or without those papers, the application is denied.
The bank’s branch finder has a filter called “Foreign Customers Can Open Accounts”, if you want to see which branches take foreign customers.
Applying from abroad
The bank lists 16 countries you can pre-apply from: Egypt, Palestine, Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Bahrain, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Oman and Libya. The branch visit is still needed.
An XTM is the bank’s machine for banking by video call, “as practical as an ATM, as rich as a branch” in its words. With a card you use its own screen like an ATM; or you start a video call and a customer representative helps you. In its 2022 news on the machine, the bank lists Turkish, English, Arabic and sign language for the calls, and says the newest XTMs can open an account by scanning an ID with their NFC reader.
Participation accounts profit and loss, not interest
A participation account, katılma hesabı, is how a participation bank takes savings. On its participation-account page the bank says the money is pooled to finance service, industry and trade, and the result is shared between the bank and the account holders as a profit-loss partnership. The return is set at maturity. This page describes how the accounts work; it does not compare them or say which to open.
“A participation account pays a fixed rate.”
“In this type of account, the rate of return is determined at maturity.” The account shares a result; it does not promise one in advance.
“Money in a current account gets a profit share.”
Current accounts take money in and out at any time and are not paid any profit share. The bank charges no account maintenance fee on them.
“Taking money out early always breaks the term.”
Within the account’s limits you can withdraw without breaking the term. The profit share at maturity is then paid on the balance that is left.
The bank lists daily terms and terms of 1, 3 and 6 months and a year or longer; the shortest term is two days. The opening amounts and profit-share ratios change and are on the bank’s page (checked 18.10.2026); this page does not copy them.
Golden Days: jewellery in, gold grams out
On set days, called Golden Days (Altın Günleri), branches take the gold you keep at home: coins, bangles, chains and rings, white or yellow, in any carat. The bank weighs the pure gold in each piece by its carat, leaves out the craftsmanship, hands back any stones, and books your savings into a new account. It announces the dates each month on its Golden Days page (checked 18.10.2026).
Golden Days · Darphane figures, checked 18 October 2026
The assay tray: how much is gold?
Put your pieces on the tray and set the carat and grams of each bangle, chain or ring. The scale shows the pure gold in them, the part the bank counts. No prices: gold is valued on the day.
Quarter coin çeyrek1.754 g · 22 carat · 916.6/10001 × 1.754 g × 916.6/1000 = 1.61 g
Half coin yarım3.508 g · 22 carat · 916.6/1000
Full coin tam7.016 g · 22 carat · 916.6/1000
Bangle bilezikper piece · 22 carat · 916/1000Carat1 × 10 g × 916/1000 = 9.16 g
Chain zincirper piece · 14 carat · 583/1000Carat
Ring yüzükper piece · 18 carat · 750/1000Carat
Pure gold
How the bank books it In the bank’s words, your savings are transferred to the account “as 24-carat and 995/1000-gram pure gold”. Its pages do not say how the pure gold in your jewellery becomes grams in the account, so ask at the branch before you hand it over.
- Labour does not count, only the gold content by its carat.
- Stones are left out of the value and handed back if you ask.
- No fee for the conversion itself; the account you open may have deductions later.
- 5 business days for the conversion; you can sell only after that.
Coins: Darphane’s table, ziynet type, 22 carat, 916.6/1000 (çeyrek 1.754 g, yarım 3.508 g, tam 7.016 g). Jewellery: Darphane’s glossary, 22 carat 916, 18 carat 750, 14 carat 583 per 1000.
A gold coin from Darphane, the state mint, is 22 carat: it holds 916.6 parts of gold in every 1,000. A 14-carat chain holds 583. That is why two pieces of the same weight can bring very different amounts of gold to the account.
The gold account and taking gold out
Gold you bring, or buy at the bank, sits in a gold account. The bank describes its Gold Current Account like this; what it costs to take gold out is in the fee table.
- Purity
- the gold in the account is always 995/1000
- Smallest step
- 0.01 g per transaction
- Opened in
- Kuveyt Türk Mobile, the Internet Branch or a branch, once you are a customer
- Bought and sold through
- your TRY, USD or EUR account
- Taking out quarter coins
- 300 to 1,000 TL per coin at a branch or ATM (fee table, dated 27.11.2025)
- Taking out gram gold or gold bars
- the costs on the delivery day, the fee table says (dated 08.01.2026)
- Machines
- the branch finder can show ATMs that give quarter or gram gold
Nothing here is advice to buy, hold or sell gold. Gold accounts, like other deposits, fall under TMSF cover; see the last chapter.
Sending money abroad and inside Türkiye
From the app or the Internet Branch, international transfers go under Money Transfers, then Foreign Currency Transfer (SWIFT). The bank’s page for foreign customers also mentions a Cost Comparison screen and a My Foreign Currency Transfers screen to follow a transfer. It adds one limit: “Our customers of Syrian nationality can only perform domestic money transfers in TRY.”
- SWIFT, branch or XTM
- 0.30 % of the amount, at least 108 and at most 917 USD
- SWIFT, app, Internet Branch or call centre
- 0.30 % of the amount, at least 53 and at most 917 USD
- Charges of banks on the way
- collected on top, the fee table says
- Lines dated
- 05.03.2025, tax included; checked 18.10.2026
Inside Türkiye, FAST sends lira between banks around the clock, up to 300,000 TL per transfer since 26 August 2026, TCMB announced. The fee table prints charges for EFT and havale at the branch, the XTM and the ATM, for example 38.21 TL plus tax for an EFT of up to 8,300 TL at a branch (dated 02.03.2026), and no line for an EFT from the app, so check the cost in the app before you send.
To Germany there is a sister bank: KT Bank AG in Frankfurt, which the bank calls the first full-fledged interest-free bank in the eurozone, open since 2015. Kuveyt Türk also has a branch in Bahrain (global presence page).
Deposit cover and owners who stands behind the bank
TMSF, the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, covers participation accounts the same way it covers deposits at other banks. The limit is per person and per bank.
TMSF · checked 18.10.2026
1,200,000 TL per person, at each participation bank
«Her bir katılım bankasında her bir kişiye ait katılım hesaplarının 1.200.000 TL’ye kadar olan kısmı TMSF güvencesi altındadır.»
“Up to 1,200,000 TL of each person’s participation accounts at each participation bank is under TMSF cover.” Lira, foreign currency and precious metals at branches in Türkiye count; accounts at branches abroad do not. If a bank’s licence is withdrawn, TMSF pays in lira.
The bank is owned by Kuwait Finance House (57.81 %), Türkiye’s Directorate General of Foundations (24.49 %), the Islamic Development Bank (8.36 %), Wafra International Investment Company (8.36 %) and other shareholders (0.98 %), its partnership-structure page shows (checked 18.10.2026). The customer contact centre is 444 0 123.
Sources and limits
We read Kuveyt Türk’s own pages and its fee tables in English and Turkish, TCMB’s IBAN communiqué, its list of bank codes and its FAST announcement, TMSF and Darphane on 18 October 2026. This guide does not give banking or investment advice and does not compare accounts or rates. Fee lines change: each one carries the date the bank prints on it, and the bank’s current table is the one that counts. What a branch accepts in practice can differ; the bank decides each application.
- Overseas transactions (receiving and sending SWIFT, times, charge types) – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- How can I become a Kuveyt Türk customer? – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Current accounts (documents, no profit share, no maintenance fee) – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Participation account – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Golden Days – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Altın Günleri (in Turkish) – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Gold Current Account – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Product and Service Fees Table, English (PDF; SWIFT lines dated 05.03.2025) – Kuveyt Türk, linked from its fees page, checked 18.10.2026
- Finansal tüketici ürün ve hizmet ücret tablosu (in Turkish, PDF) – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Product and services fees – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Frequently asked questions (in Turkish) – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Digital banking for foreign customers – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Branches and ATMs – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Award to Kuveyt Türk’s Next Generation XTM solution (25.05.2022) – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- TMSF protection – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Partnership structure – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Trade registry information – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Global presence – Kuveyt Türk, checked 18.10.2026
- Communiqué on the International Bank Account Number, No. 2008/6, consolidated (in Turkish, PDF) – TCMB, checked 18.10.2026
- Payment system participants 2026 (in Turkish, PDF) – TCMB, checked 18.10.2026
- FAST transaction limit raised, press release 2026-36 – TCMB, checked 18.10.2026
- Deposit and participation fund cover (home page, in Turkish) – TMSF, checked 18.10.2026
- Cumhuriyet altını üretimi (in Turkish) – Darphane ve Damga Matbaası, checked 18.10.2026
- Küçük sözlük (in Turkish) – Darphane ve Damga Matbaası, checked 18.10.2026
The illustrations were made for this page; they show no real person and no bank’s logo.
