Azerbaijan studying Turkish payment systems experience

By Ayya Lmahamad

The delegation consisting of members of the expert group on payment systems and digital banking, and representatives of the payment systems and settlements department of Azerbaijan’s Central Bank is on an official visit to Turkiye, Azernews reports.

The main purpose of the visit, organized by the Azerbaijani Bank Association (ABA), is to study Turkiye’s achievements in the digital transformation of the banking system and to identify areas of mutual cooperation.

Within the framework of the visit, meetings will be held with major financial facilities such as Interbank Card Center of Turkiye, Ing Bank, Vakifbank, Ziraat Banki, Yapi Credit Bank, Aktif Bank, Visa office in Turkiye, as well as Birlesik Odeme Hizmetleri, Token and Payten fintech companies.

To note, ABA was founded in 1990 by commercial banks. The main purpose of the ABA is to represent member organizations, support their needs in various types of business services and coordinate their activities. Currently, the ABA has 25 banks and 5 non-banking organizations as members.

Azerbaijan and Turkiye collaborate in a variety of economic sectors and have completed major energy and infrastructure projects, such as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, and TANAP.

In 2021, Azerbaijan and Turkiye signed the Shusha Declaration on Allied Relations, which focuses on defense cooperation, promoting regional stability, and prosperity through establishing new transport routes.

The two countries set up a goal of bringing the mutual trade turnover to $15 billion in 2023. As of 2021, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $4.6 billion. So far, Turkiye is Azerbaijan’s second-largest investor followed by the UK.

Additionally, Turkiye was one of the first countries keen on involvement in the restoration of Azerbaijan’s liberated territories.