Türkiye is interested in joining the European Union's payments system, and related financial institutions are working on the issue, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Wednesday.
Fidan was responding to a question at a press conference about his talks with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and two other EU commissioners that took place on Tuesday in Ankara.
Türkiye and the EU have been holding talks about the bloc's 41-country Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) that makes cross-border euro-currency payments cheaper, faster and more secure.
Users in far smaller Balkan candidates Albania, Moldova, Montenegro and North Macedonia, which adopted the scheme last year, could save up to 500 million euros ($568.7 million), the EU says.
Earlier this year, now-former EU envoy to Ankara, Jurgis Vilcinskas, said the bloc had pitched to Türkiye the idea that the candidate country could join SEPA to boost integration efforts and benefit those sending money abroad.
Under SEPA, Turkish banks could stand to lose revenues on transfers, which vary widely based on size. A Türkiye-Europe transfer of 1,000 euros to 5,000 euros can cost 40 euros, according to Western Union.
Europe is Türkiye's largest trading partner, with more than 200 billion euros in volume. Although bloc membership talks have been stalled for years, both say they want to modernize their customs union and move to boost economic ties.
Earlier this year, Odile Renaud‑Basso, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), said SEPA would "basically make transactions cost-free."
