Bank Virtual POS or Payment Provider? iyzico, PayTR and Bank POS

For a new online store, a sensible start is often a payment institution such as iyzico or PayTR. Applications are usually approved faster, instalments can be offered on different banks' cards through a single integration, and the door is open to sole proprietorships too. A bank virtual POS makes sense once sales reach a certain level, so you can negotiate better terms. Below we explain how the two models work and when it may make sense to switch from one to the other.

Fees and terms vary by provider, industry and sales volume, and change often. This assessment is about general structure; get current written quotes from providers before deciding.

How does a bank virtual POS work?

A bank virtual POS is the online equivalent of a physical card terminal. You sign directly with the bank, it gives you a merchant number and integration details, and your site talks directly to the bank's system at checkout. The money goes into your bank account.

The strength of this model can be cost. With banks, especially once your volume reaches a certain level, the fee rate can be negotiated. Different options may also be offered for settlement time: one where money arrives the next day at a higher rate, or one where it's held for a set period at a lower rate.

There are weaknesses too. Applications can take longer and depend on documents; some banks may ask newly founded companies, especially sole proprietorships, for collateral or a turnover history. On instalments, each bank's virtual POS usually offers instalments only on cards in its own card programme. If you want to offer instalments on different banks' cards, you need agreements with several banks, and your site has to be set up to pick the right POS for each card. That means technical work and an administrative load.

How do payment institutions work?

Payment institutions like iyzico, PayTR, Param and Sipay are licensed companies that act as intermediaries between you and the banks; you can check an institution's licence status on the list published by the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye. You sign a single contract with the payment institution; it works with many banks in the background and takes the payment regardless of which bank's card your customer uses. Money first goes to your account at the payment institution and is then transferred to your bank account.

For newcomers the advantages are clear. Applications are often online and usually approved faster than with a bank. You can offer instalments on different banks' cards with one integration. Sole proprietorships can apply. And many payment institutions integrate directly with hosted e-commerce platforms and common systems; setup can be as simple as enabling a plugin.

In return, the total cost can be higher than with a bank, since the payment institution builds its own service charge into its pricing. Some also charge a small fixed fee per transaction. How long it takes for money to reach your bank account also varies by institution and the package you choose.

Fees and settlement compared

Because rates vary by provider, bargaining power and volume, we don't give specific figures here; get current rates from providers in writing. For instalment sales, the rate usually rises with the number of instalments in both models, because the cost of instalments lands on someone.

When weighing fees, think about three things together. First, the rate: what percentage, and is there a fixed fee per transaction? Second, settlement: when does the money reach your account? For a small business's cash flow, getting paid much later can be a bigger problem than a slightly higher rate. Third, instalment cost: will you absorb the extra cost of instalment sales or pass it on to the customer?

Let's take a hypothetical example. Say a store selling 80,000 TL a month has two offers, at 3.2 percent and 2.6 percent. The difference is 480 TL a month, about 5,760 TL a year. That difference is real, but weighed against the extra technical work, several bank contracts and collateral terms that moving to bank POS may bring, staying with a payment institution at this volume can often be more practical. As sales grow, the math changes. We broke down the total cost of an online store in a separate article; payment fees are a major part of it.

3D Secure and fraud

3D Secure is the bank verifying the cardholder's identity during a card payment; in Türkiye it's usually done with an SMS code sent to the phone. Because it adds a step for the customer, some businesses want to remove it. We don't recommend it.

Here's why: for a payment made with 3D Secure, if the cardholder later disputes it saying 'I didn't make this purchase', the process generally works in the business's favour. For payments without 3D Secure, the money can often be taken back from the business in such disputes (chargebacks). With a stolen card purchase you can lose both the product and the money. Check the contract with your provider for the detailed liability terms. Many banks and payment institutions may also require 3D Secure for new businesses.

The way to reduce 3D Secure's effect on cart abandonment isn't removing it, but simplifying the checkout. A payment page that works properly on mobile, customers returning to the site without errors after the SMS screen, and a clear message when something fails are usually enough. We covered other ways to reduce cart abandonment in a separate article.

Another thing to watch for fraud is suspicious order patterns: repeated high-value orders to the same address with different cards, billing and delivery addresses far apart, insistence on urgent delivery for high-value items. Many payment institutions offer risk systems that flag such transactions automatically.

Documents required to apply

Required documents vary by provider and company type, but these are usually expected:

• Tax certificate.
• Signature circular, or a signature declaration for sole proprietorships.
• ID copy of the company's authorised person.
• Trade registry gazette for limited and joint-stock companies.
• IBAN of a bank account opened in the company's name.
• Certificate of activity or chamber registration certificate.

Alongside the documents, your site is reviewed too. At application, the site may be expected to be live or at least reviewable, to show contact details such as company name, address, phone and email, and to include legal texts like the distance sales agreement, return terms and privacy policy. Products visible with prices also make approval easier.

A situation we see often: the application is made while the site still shows an 'under construction' page, and it's put on hold until the site is complete. Applying once the site is reviewable with its legal texts and a few products speeds the process up.

If you're taking card payments for the first time, you might start with a payment institution, collect your first months of sales data, and use it to negotiate rates with both your current provider and your bank. A business with a sales history has different bargaining power from one applying on day one.