Ziraat Participation Bank and the Turkish Green Crescent Society, Yeşilay, have launched a new payment product called the Bağımsız Card, which includes built-in restrictions on gambling-related spending.
Yeşilay is a non-profit, public-benefit non-governmental organisation in Turkey focused on combating various forms of addiction. Ziraat Bank is among the country’s largest banks in terms of both branch network and total assets.
Developed as part of a social responsibility partnership, the card directs a portion of user spending towards addiction prevention programmes run by Yeşilay.
Bank officials said the initiative reflects a wider push to integrate social impact into financial services, while Yeşilay emphasised its role in raising awareness around addiction prevention.
The product combines everyday payments with targeted restrictions on high-risk spending categories.
Meanwhile, Turkey is ramping up its efforts to combat the illegal gambling market. Authorities have detained 111 suspects after carrying out coordinated raids across 41 provinces in an investigation into alleged illegal betting activity and the laundering of criminal proceeds.
According to findings cited from the Financial Crimes Investigation Board, MASAK, the network under investigation was linked to an estimated transaction volume of TL 35.86bn ($789m).
As part of the investigation, officials seized funds held in 190 bank and cryptocurrency accounts.
Furthermore, the regulatory approach to tackling illegal gambling appears to be entering a more aggressive phase, with discussions now extending beyond operators to players themselves.
Alongside existing penalties for running illegal betting networks, authorities are reportedly considering whether participation alone should carry potential prison sentences.
Illegal gambling networks in Turkey have become highly organised operations, structured like professional businesses and increasingly difficult to dismantle
