Turkey Revokes Papel E-Money Licence
Turkey’s central bank has revoked the electronic money licence of Papel Elektronik Para ve Ödeme Hizmetleri.
The decision carries the date September 18 and was published on September 23. Papel’s original authorization dated back to October 27, 2022.
Papel is also no longer in the active list of electronic money institutions. The TCMB register now puts the company in the revoked section, at No. 14.
The revocation decision cites several parts of Law No. 6493. It does not say in the notice that the criminal case was the reason for taking away the licence.
Papel Had Been Licensed Since 2022
Papel got its electronic money permission in October 2022. TCMB widened the scope of that licence in July 2023. 15M checked the current TCMB list on September 24: Papel remains in the revoked section.
Earlier measures around Papel came through a criminal investigation rather than a licence cancellation. In January, 38 suspects were detained in an operation across eight provinces. Fifteen were later arrested. Papel was placed under TMSF trusteeship. Prosecutors said the investigation followed reports from TCMB and Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board, MASAK.
June File Put Transfers at TRY1.5B
The investigation produced an indictment in June. It named 44 suspects. Prosecutors sought sentences ranging from nine to 27 years over allegations involving proceeds from illegal betting and other offences.
The money figure in the file was about TRY1.5 billion ($32.3 million) in transfer volume. The USD figure uses TCMB’s June 22 buying rate of TRY46.3758 per dollar.
There were customer numbers as well. A TCMB audit cited in the indictment referred to 43,488 customers linked with 238 accounts reported by TÖDEB in connection with illegal betting. Another 1,777 active customers were marked as high risk.
The June figures and allegations come from the investigation material, not a final court judgment. Doviz.com reported the indictment details.
Papel Was Already Part of Turkey’s Payment-Rails Crackdown
15M previously covered Turkey’s wider campaign against payment infrastructure used in illegal betting cases. Papel was among the fintech companies mentioned in that earlier coverage.
The Papel timeline now includes three separate steps: the criminal investigation, TMSF trusteeship and the later TCMB licensing action.