Lives dependent on credit cards
Millions who cannot make ends meet with their income are dependent on credit cards. Each citizen over the age of 20 has 2.2 cards. In one month, 529.8 billion liras worth of food and grocery payments were made with credit cards.
Credit cards have become the sole means for citizens to sustain their daily lives. Nowadays, not only appliances or vacations but also basic necessities like bread and milk, along with electricity and natural gas bills, are paid with cards. Millions of people who cannot make ends meet with their incomes are dependent on credit cards. The erosion of purchasing capacity is forcing citizens to rely more heavily on credit cards.
As of July, there are a total of 136.7 million credit cards. Each of the 61.7 million people aged 20 and over has an average of 2.2 credit cards.
This situation, caused by economic hardship and increasing debt, reveals that millions of citizens are in financial crisis. The average debt per person has reached 61,791 TL. In July, 214,000 people used a credit card for the first time. Twenty percent of credit card users have a card limit between 250,000 and 500,000 lira.
The crisis of inability to pay debts is increasing the rate of non-performing loans on personal credit cards. The rate of non-performing personal credit cards, which was 2.5 percent in July last year, reached 4.2 percent in one year.
EXPENDITURE WITHOUT INSTALLMENTS DOUBLED
Large segments of society struggling to make ends meet are now trying to cover all their expenses, from basic needs to bills, with credit cards. In particular, expenditure without installments for daily needs made with personal credit cards has increased significantly.
According to Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) data, non-installment spending with credit cards has reached twice the level of installment spending. According to the latest weekly data, non-installment spending accounts for 1 trillion 611 billion 388 million liras of the 2 trillion 506 billion 839 million liras spent with personal credit cards.
When Minister of National Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek took office in June 2023 with his statement of “returning to rational ground,” installment payments accounted for 390 billion 405 million liras and non-installment payments accounted for 403 billion 369 million liras of the 793 billion 774 million liras in individual credit card debt.
During this period, non-installment spending quadrupled, while installment spending doubled.
529.8 BILLION IN NON-INSTALLMENT BILLS
Credit cards, which used to be preferred more for installment purchases, are now used directly for daily spending. In July, market and shopping center spending accounted for 17.5% of the 1 trillion 839 billion lira spent with credit cards. Supermarkets and shopping centers accounted for the largest share of card spending, at 322.8 billion liras. When the 116.9 billion liras spent on food and 90.1 billion liras spent on dining, which stood out in non-installment spending, are added, credit cards paid a bill of 529.8 billion liras in one month.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Hayatlar kredi kartına bağımlı, published in BirGün newspaper on September 24, 2025.
