FX.co ★ Turkey launches talks to join Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)

Turkey has officially expressed its intent to join the European payment system SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area). Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that relevant financial institutions are currently examining the matter in detail. The statement was made at a press conference following official talks with the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas and two other European Commissioners, who visited Ankara on June 30.

The Single Euro Payments Area is a large cross‑border financial network that currently brings together 41 countries. SEPA enables euro‑denominated cashless transactions, offering participants low costs, fast processing of payments, and high reliability. Turkey and the EU are now holding active consultations to assess the technical readiness of the Turkish banking system for potential participation in the project.

The negotiations on this potential integration move come as Ankara seeks to deepen economic and technological cooperation with its key European partner. If consultations are successfully completed, Turkish financial institutions and businesses would gain direct access to the unified European infrastructure. This would significantly reduce currency‑conversion and payment processing costs for commercial enterprises, as well as for the millions of citizens who regularly make cross‑border transactions.