Turkey is at the core of both our investment strategy and geography. Naturally, we have quite strong opinions on the market, both positive and negative, formed by the process of investing into dozens of companies in the region, as well as having seen the vast majority of promising startups.
However, from time to time, we come across statistics that blow us away. Here is one from a recent Visa study on digital payments:
Nine in ten (91%) Turkish respondents have used a mobile device to make payments, and nearly three quarters (74%) say they use their mobile device for payments on a regular basis compared with the European average of 54%
We know and like Turkey’s young, digitally savvy population, but this number was a surprise to even us.
Cem Sertoglu 
Does logging onto one’s Banking app and using it to pay say a monthly utility bill count as “using a mobile device to make payments”?
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I would suspect so.
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In many countries consumers can setup automated payment directly through their utility (ie without going through the bank or banking app). In Turkey, one can only do it through the bank (with the exception of some credit card payments), and since Turkish habits are notoriously day-to-day many people go online and pay their bill monthly rather than setting up automated payment. As such Turkey’s relatively high score may simply be a reflection of this regulatory and cultural difference rather than a widespread embrace of m-commerce, esp for discretionary purchases. Whether Turkey’s relatively high score has any relevance to, or offers any reason to be hopeful about the wider Turkish m-commerce industry going forward remains to be seen it would appear to me. Note I’m not an expert by any means it in this space, it just seems to me that sometimes statistics don’t always say what we may think they are saying.
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Great point. Thanks, Cem.
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