BRSA Announces Official Credit Card Restructuring – Breaking News!
CBRT Introduces Opportunity for Restructuring Credit Card and Consumer Loan Debts
The recent amendments made by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) have brought about significant changes in the restructuring of personal credit card and consumer loan debts. The Communiqué on Amendments to the Communiqué on Maximum Interest Rates to be Applied in Credit Card Transactions was published in the Official Gazette, along with the Board decision of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) on the subject.
According to the new regulations, individuals who are unable to pay the minimum amount of their term debt on their credit cards will now have the option to restructure their existing credit card debt balances for up to 60 months. This restructuring will involve adding the installment amount for each month to the minimum payment amount of the relevant month. Additionally, the credit card limit at the relevant bank cannot be increased until at least half of the structured credit card debt is repaid.
Furthermore, CBRT has set a maximum interest rate of 3.11 percent for the restructuring of individual credit card debts, based on the reference interest rate.
In the case of consumer loans, individuals facing delays in principal and interest payments for more than 30 days will now have the opportunity to restructure their loans for up to 60 months without requiring additional loans. It is important to note that debtors must apply for restructuring within 1 year of experiencing payment delays.
In addition to these changes, BRSA has also revised the minimum payment rate on credit cards. The minimum payment rate limit, previously set at 20 percent of the period debt, has now been increased from 25 thousand lira to 50 thousand lira. This means that the minimum payment rate for credit cards below 50 thousand liras will be 20 percent of the term debt, while it will be 40 percent for credit cards of 50 thousand liras and above.
In line with these changes, CBRT has also differentiated the maximum contractual interest rates applied to individual credit cards based on the credit card term debt and the reference rate. These rates will be announced on October 24 and will come into effect on November 1.
Overall, these amendments aim to provide relief to individuals struggling with credit card and consumer loan debts, by offering them the opportunity to restructure their payments over an extended period of time.
