İşbank Since 1924

İşbank undertook important duties in Turkey's national economic development in the early years of the Republic at a time when capital accumulation in the country was weak.

Founded to accept even the smallest savings and to put them all to the business in the country’s economic growth and development, İşbank has played a vital role by fostering a sense of thrift in Turkish society.

Immediately after its formation, İşbank began growing as it sought to extend its branch network so as to encompass the entire country.

In 1932, İşbank became the first Turkish bank to go abroad when it opened its first international branches: one in Hamburg (Germany) and the other in Alexandria (Egypt).

During the 1950s, İşbank focused its attention on developing a targeted portfolio of equity stakes.

İşbank supplied resources in the form of capital and financing to many different business areas, with special attention being given to manufacturing. The companies in which the Bank invested in this way became the engines of Turkey’s subsequent industrialization. In the 1960s and 1970s, İşbank accelerated the pace of its branch network expansion at the national level. In the 1980s, it concentrated on developing its international reach.

The 1980s were also when İşbank started serving a much broader range of customers in line with its vision of multichannel banking.

In 1982 İşbank introduced the first ATMs to the Turkish market. Its ATM, named “Bankamatik”, becomes the generic name for such machines in Turkey.

İşbank continued to lead the way forward in the development of alternative delivery channels in the Turkish banking industry. It launched the country’s first telephone banking service with its “Blueline” (“Mavi Hat”) product in 1991 and its first online branch in 1997.

Concurrent with such innovations, İşbank engaged intensively in R&D activities and in efforts to make use of new technologies in order to further increase the quality and diversity of the services it offered in line with customers’ expectations.

Having relocated its headquarters from Ankara to İstanbul in 2000, İşbank continues to grow strongly and consistently.

In 2006 İşbank initiated its Customer-Centric Transformation (“MOD”) program, the objective of which was to restructure the Bank with a customer-focused approach. Under this program, a large number of projects that resulted in truly revolutionary changes were successfully completed.

Keeping pace with the rapid changes taking place in technology in recent years, İşbank continues to develop its innovative, multichannel banking network so as to make sure that its customers can take care of all of their banking needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, conveniently, quickly and securely and making use of whichever delivery channel is the most appropriate.

In keeping with its objective of expanding its international presence, İşbank keeps a close watch on markets in Turkey’s near abroad, particularly in the Balkans and the Middle East. In this way the Bank continues to make progress towards fulfilling its vision of being first a regional and then a global bank. In 2011 İşbank strengthened its international service network with the addition of new branches and, for the first time in its corporate history, it also acquired another bank with the purchase of a Moscow-based financial institution. This acquisition is now operating under the name of “İşbank Russia”.

Firsts and Innovations

Highlights of İşbank's firsts and innovations in Turkish banking sector

• Introduced child’s coin bank to the Turkish society in order to trigger and create mainstream propensity for saving.
• The first use of checks as a convenient way to make ordinary payments
• The launch of electronic banking in Turkey with the introduction of Turkey’s first ATMs
• The first Turkish bank to open branches in Cyprus and Europe
• The first investment account service in the Turkish financial services industry
• Launched Turkey’s first mutual fund.
• The first trading services of investment securities at a bank in Turkey
• Initiated the first interactive telephone banking service.
• The first online branch
• The first WAP mobile banking service
• The first Java-based mobile banking application for customers
• The first term deposit product for customers in Turkey whose yields are indexed to the TRLIBOR market, named “Floating Account”
• Turkey’s first social responsibility-focused mutual fund that invests in environment-friendly company shares, named “Environmentally Responsible Fund”
• “Environmentally Friendly House Loan”, a retail credit product launched to support the growth and development of environment-friendly technologies in the housing industry
• Mobile signature, which allows customers to draw down loans without having to go to a branch and to withdraw cash without using a bank or credit card
• A multi-touch featured application that allows customers to compare yields on financial products, named “Getiri Sihirbazı” (“Return Comparison Wizard”)
• “İş’te Yatırım iPhone”, an iPhone application that allows users to monitor İstanbul Stock Exchange information in real time
• A Video Phone Banking application that makes use of third-generation (3G) mobile telephone technology
• “Mobile Key (Cep Anahtar)”, a mobile phone application which strengthens the transaction security of online branch and mobile banking channels and which also makes it possible to withdraw cash from İşbank ATMs without the need of a card
• World’s first biometric-controlled POS using electronic fingerprint reading to authenticate a user’s identity
• An interactive messaging system that transforms POS terminals into two-way communication channels
• “Üstü Kalsın” (“Keep the Change”), an innovative application that contributes to saving by rounding up outstanding credit card debt balances to a specified limit and uses the difference to purchase mutual fund shares
• “Kur Korumalı (Opsiyonlu) Döviz Kredisi” (“Exchange Rate Protected Foreign Currency Loan with Option”), a foreign-currency loan with a guaranteed exchange rate option that protects the borrower against excessive exchange rate rises; “Sabit Faizli Rotatif (BCH) Kredi” (“Fixed Rate Revolving Loan”), a fixed-interest-rate revolving line of credit for those who do not want to be affected by interest rate movements; Chinese Yuan credit and loans for customers who make business with China
• “Benim Bankamatik’im” (“My ATM”), an innovative application that revolutionizes ATM use in Turkey by allowing users to customize their own screens
• “Temassız Kartla Para Çekme” (“Money Withdrawal by Contactless Card”), a contactless card application that makes it possible for users to withdraw cash with a single keypress