One of the largest banks in Turkey began to massively refuse to open accounts to Russians
Earlier, Biden signed a decree imposing restrictions on banks for helping Russians circumvent sanctions
The Turkish bank DenizBank, which is one of the largest credit institutions in the country, has practically stopped opening accounts for Russian citizens since the beginning of 2024.
Source. RBC writes about this with reference to two intermediaries who help Russians get cards in Turkish banks.
"Out of ten applications for opening an account, only one is approved. It is impossible to open an account even with a residence permit and a residence permit in Turkey," one of the intermediaries described the situation. He added that DenizBank now makes exceptions only for customers with large deposits of $100,000 and above.
The problem was confirmed by Lenar Wealth Management partner Lenar Rakhmanov, who works in Istanbul. According to him, the possibility of opening an account for a Russian is influenced by the "calibre of the client" and personal agreements with a particular bank branch.
Having a residence permit and a local residence permit does not guarantee opening an account with DenizBank, confirms another intermediary, Elena Chernysheva. She notes that it will be easier for Russian citizens to apply to another bank if they have a full package of necessary documents.
At the end of last year, US President Joe Biden signed a decree imposing restrictions on foreign banks for helping Russian individuals and legal entities circumvent sanctions and for facilitating supplies to the Russian defence industry. After that, a number of foreign banks made it harder to serve Russians, and Russian citizens began to have difficulties making payments and transfers.
It was also reported that Chinese banks started blocking payments from Russia in yuan. Banks fear secondary sanctions and pressure from the US after the 12th sanctions package was adopted.
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