What is FAST?
FAST (Fonların Anlık ve Sürekli Transferi, instant and continuous transfer of funds) is Türkiye’s instant payment system. It was developed within and is operated by TCMB, independently of the EFT system. Customers can send payment orders through their providers 24/7; payments complete within seconds and the funds are immediately usable in the recipient’s account. Transactions that do not complete within the set time-out are cancelled.
History and participants
FAST went live on 18 December 2020 in a pilot in which only bank staff could send payments, and opened to customers on 8 January 2021. Participation is open to the payment service providers listed in Article 13 of Law No. 6493: banks operating in Türkiye, payment and e-money institutions that meet the requirements, and PTT. A participant applies to TCMB in writing, needs approval from the TCMB Management Committee, signs the FAST participant agreement, opens an account at TCMB, passes the required tests and must have risk management, operational management, internal control and internal audit mechanisms in place.
Layer services and limits
On top of the core system TCMB offers layer services: easy addressing (Kolay Adresleme), the FAST-TR QR code and Request to Pay (Ödeme İste), which TCMB launched first for person-to-person payments. TCMB announced that from 4 April 2024 the transaction limit rose to TRY 100,000 for money transfers and to TRY 250,000 for merchant payments made with a dynamically verified FAST-TR QR code. Limits can change, so check the current figure on TCMB’s FAST site.
Is FAST the same as EFT?
No. FAST is a separate system, independent of EFT. TCMB’s EFT and EMKT systems run on weekdays between 08:30 and 17:30 outside public holidays, while FAST accepts payment orders 24/7.
Can a payment or e-money institution join FAST directly?
Yes, if it meets TCMB’s participation conditions and the TCMB Management Committee approves its participation. TCMB may refuse participation on legal, managerial or technical grounds, sanctions risk or risk to the system’s functioning.
Related: Payment Institution, ISO 20022, Open Banking.
Sources. Law No. 6493 on Payment and Securities Settlement Systems, Payment Services and Electronic Money Institutions. Statute links open the official consolidated Turkish texts on mevzuat.gov.tr.