The Turkish payment system really is an eye-opener for its sophistication. I used to work in credit cards and did a study tour to Istanbul in 2004 to see it fir

The Turkish payment system really is an eye-opener for its sophistication. I used to work in credit cards and did a study tour to Istanbul in 2004 to see it first hand and talk to both merchants and the issuing banks. One big difference in Turkey is many shops had 5 or more card terminals, each in the colour of the issuing bank. Banks competed for both merchants and consumers by offering value-added features unique to their terminal, such as instalment credit instantly accessible to only their customers. Instalment credit was popular in Turkey following the economic crisis in 2001 (3000% interest rates) because many people simply didn't have the cash to pay up front for major purchases such as whitegoods or even shoes. In most other countries, shops have only one payment terminal, supplied by the acquiring bank (acquiring = acquires payment transactions, as distinct from issuing = issuing payment cards to consumers). That terminal has to support all cards equally, using the base Visa/MasterCard standards. Hence there are no value-added payment options.