Electronic money institutions
Electronic money is a concept defined in our laws. Electronic money in law; It is defined as “the monetary value issued in return for funds accepted by the electronic money issuer, stored electronically, used to carry out the payment transactions defined in this Law, and accepted as a means of payment by real and legal persons other than the electronic money issuer”.
An electronic money institution is a legal entity authorized by law to issue electronic money. According to the law, this legal entity must be established as a joint stock company, and the company and its partners must fulfill the conditions specified in the second paragraph of Article 18 of the law. An electronic money institution authorized to operate in accordance with Article 18 of the Law may issue electronic money as well as provide payment services specified in the first paragraph of Article 12 of the Law.
Electronic money account
These are accounts opened in electronic fund institutions that enable payments to be made up to the amount of funds received. All kinds of payment transactions can be made with the amount transferred to the electronic money account.
Protection account
It is stated in the law that the funds received by the payment institution for the purpose of performing the payment service and the funds collected by the electronic money institution in return for the issuance of electronic money will be protected in accordance with the conditions to be determined within the framework of the secondary legislation to be issued.
The conditions under which the funds introduced within the framework of the regulation will be protected are specified in the regulation. Accordingly, the payment institution follows the separation of payment funds from other funds and can only be used for the purpose of carrying out the payment transaction.
The amount of unpaid payment funds at the end of the business day following the day of receipt is invested in protection accounts that will be opened by a bank within the scope of Law No. 5411 and will be used only for the protection of these funds.
Payment methods are held in custody accounts opened in the currency in which they were received. If it is not possible to open an account in the relevant foreign currency or would require an unreasonable cost, the settlement funds can be transferred to a leading currency and kept in a hedge account.
Records regarding the funds in the payment institution custody accounts are kept in a manner that enables tracking of payment funds based on payment service usage.
The payment institution is obliged to reconcile the records of the previous business day by comparing its own records regarding the funds in the protection accounts with the account statements to be received from the bank on a daily basis. It is mandatory to keep a record of any corrections made regarding reconciliation, excluding incompatibilities arising from timing differences. In case of a significant discrepancy between the records, the payment institution immediately notifies the institution.
If reconciliation transactions are carried out electronically, the statements regarding the transaction are securely stored by the organization in physical form or electronically.
If the reconciliation transactions cannot be carried out within the framework of the principles and procedures specified in the sixth and seventh paragraphs, the payment institution will immediately inform the institution.
The balances of funds in payment funds and protection accounts are reported to the Institution within the framework of the procedures and principles to be determined by the Institution.
As can be understood from the conditions specified in the regulation, there is no clear provision stating that the amount transferred to the protection account cannot be schemed by banks or a payment institution and only for their own interests, and these funds are not schemed in practice.
