22. Mobile Payments in Turkey (as of 2013)

This chapter looks into the development and characteristics of mobile payment systems in Turkey until 2013. With over 72 million mobile phone users and mobile phone ownership reaching a penetration level of 90 %, Turkey is an attractive market for mobile payments. Initiated by the leading GSM carrier Turkcell in April 2009, the driving forces for this technology are GSM operators and their technology partners (i.e. mobile payment aggregators). The system targets the relatively young population who are frequent users of online gaming sites and social networks. We argue that the power of Turkish mobile payments is related to their potential to contribute to a cashless society by tapping into a market that is underserved: low value, high volume, online entertainment transactions. In this way, Turkish mobile payment systems supplement, rather than substitute, other payment methods. In this chapter, we also discuss the strengths and limitations of mobile payments as viewed by consumers.