my money in the bank

Grey80


Joined: 10/05/2009
Posts: 16

Message Posted:
15/05/2009 23:02

Hello all,



if i put my savings in a bank, in NC will they be safe and can anyone tell me what sort of intrest i will be getting on it, and does anyone know of a good bank over there



Thanks

Lilli



Joined: 21/07/2008
Posts: 13081

Message Posted:
15/05/2009 23:05

stand by. You will get the name of every bank here and the rates they pay. You can of course google and check ou the one that may suit you. xxx

TimothyCadman


Joined: 13/12/2007
Posts: 1040

Message Posted:
15/05/2009 23:32

Banks and safe are not 2 words that go together easily. No bank in the world is 100% safe and secure. It's only 10 years since there was a problem with a TRNC bank, and even less time for a Turkish Bank to suffer.



If you can spread bet with several banks. It's unlikely that they'll all go belly up at the same time!

Grey80


Joined: 10/05/2009
Posts: 16

Message Posted:
16/05/2009 03:40

Thanks i did think of spreading it accross a couple of banks, and yes there is always a risk with banks as they all seem to like to spend your money in some way or another, but i just wanted to know how stable the banks are in NC but i will just have toi see hey, would not be so good to lose it all, mite have to do even more work

scoobydoo


Joined: 10/11/2008
Posts: 2434

Message Posted:
16/05/2009 07:48

We tend to place our money in banks that are not just NC banks ie TEB, Garanti, Turk Bank etc. We were always told that the banks that went belly up a few years ago were local ones. I don't really know whether this makes any difference but it makes us feel better if nothing else!



There is supposed to be a 20,000 Euro garantee with each account you have so that if anything happens your money is safe and many people open numerous accounts, which is totally acceptable by the banks, to ensure they are covered if anything goes wrong but we still tend to use non TC banks. If a bank did close, I am not sure how or whether you would get your 20,000 Euros back, but I guess we are just a little hesitant and mistrusting of systems here.

cooper


Joined: 23/10/2007
Posts: 3386

Message Posted:
16/05/2009 08:04

Hi, there is supposed to be a 20,000 Euro guarantee as stated above but as ever guarantee's are only as good as the people giving them !! so in my opinion you would be better of spreading your money between different banks and not just opening a number of accounts with the same bank.



Cooper

zcacmxi


Joined: 30/11/2008
Posts: 388

Message Posted:
16/05/2009 09:47

A note about the guarantee scheme:



When a local bank "Akdeniz Guarantee Bank" collapsed about a decade ago, the way the scheme worked was as follows:



1) The government took over the bank.

2) People were given "a proportion" of their cash savings back in installments over a number of years.

3) People were given the remaining proportion of the cash as equity shares in the new saved "Akdeniz Guarantee Bank".



Things to note:



1) This was over a decade ago, so the scheme may now be different.

2) People did not get all of their money back.

3) The money that people did get back took a very long time to get back.

4) The shares people were given in the failed back were worthless!

5) The shares were illiquid. There was no stock exchange to sell them and even if there was they'd be worthless.

6) The whole affair took so long, those with TL deposits basically lost the majority of their savings as there was high inflation which depreciated their deposits very quickly.

eager


Joined: 23/02/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
16/05/2009 10:31

Another thing to consider is the low exchange rate at the moment, if you may need to change it back to sterling some time you could lose out. Maybe consider opening a sterling account and wait until / if the rate rises.

eager


Joined: 23/02/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
16/05/2009 13:47

Are the Banks now on a better footing because of this do you think, maybe they have learned a lesson from past times.

Grey80


Joined: 10/05/2009
Posts: 16

Message Posted:
16/05/2009 17:05

Thanks for the info, really do appreciate it, somthing i will have to seriously look into, i think spreading it accross a few banks is the right idea

zcacmxi


Joined: 30/11/2008
Posts: 388

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 13:01

Spreading risk is not fool proof however, and would not have helped during the last banking crisis in North Cyprus.



During the Banking Crisis of a decade ago, when confidence was lost in the first failing bank and there was a "run" which lead it to collapse, news got around very quickly. Soon, most people started to re-evaluate the safety of their bank and started withdrawing savings. So "the run" spread to other banks, which all failed one by one compounding the problem.



Over a dozen banks failed, including: Akdeniz Garanti Bankasi, Kıbrıs Kredi Bankası, Kıbrıs Hür Bank, Everest Bank, Kıbrıs Yurt Bank, Kıbrıs Finans Bank, Kıbrıs Euro Bank, Akdeniz Garanti Bankasi, Kıbrıs Ticaret Bankası, Yasa Bank, Tilmo Bank, Asya Bank, Kıbrıs Endüstri Bankası, Erbank, Rumelibank.

zcacmxi


Joined: 30/11/2008
Posts: 388

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 13:18

To balance my post above however, many of the failing banks were small newly established banks offering interest rates too good to be true. People were taking big risks but not aware of it.



Many of the established banks did NOT fail, and are still around today. These are:

Kıbrıs Vakıflar Bankası, Kıbrıs Türk Kooperatif Merkez Bankası, Türk Bankası (Turkish Bank), Limasol Türk Kooperatif Bankası, Asbank, İktisatbank, Creditwest Bank (was Altinbas Bank), Universal Bank, Kıbrıs Continental Bank, Viya Bank, Kıbrıs Faisal İslam Bankası.



Ofcourse, the larger Turkish/Global banks are also still around and did not fail:

İş Bankası, HSBC, Garanti Bankası, Türkiye Ekonomi Bankası, Ziraat Bankası, Halk Bankası ve ING Bank.



HSBC was not around in Turkey/Cyprus during the banking crisis. It was formed out of the ashes of the failed Demirbank which HSBC bought from the Turkis

eager


Joined: 23/02/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 14:51

Very good post sir, Thank you very much, always good to have the facts. very informative, well done.

girne


Joined: 14/01/2009
Posts: 438

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 15:05

Having worked for Lloyds Bank back in the UK and am now working for Kibris Continental Bank l can advise you that all accounts are guaranteed for 20,000 euros or the equivelant.

All rates do vary from bank to bank.

At present we are offering 14% on the TL Monthly

Sterling monthly 5,50%

3 monthly 6,00%

6 monthly 6,50%

12 monthly 7,00%



If you require any more information about the banking system in the TRNC l would be more than happy to help.



tele : +090 (392) 822 4359

mobile +090 5338417388

eager


Joined: 23/02/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 15:28

Exchange rate far to low to open TL account at the moment, anyone think it will rise soon ?

gaziali


Joined: 23/03/2009
Posts: 28

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 15:55

The Bank crises in NC was just after the big bank crise in Turkey. If someone says that the local banks is been affected from the crise and all of them were locals is not true. I can mention at least more then half a dozen of banks collapsed in Turkey. I was a banking inspector working for the second biggest bank (YAPI VE KREDI BANKASI) in Turkey. Now i am working as the manager of Universal Bank Catalkoy branch.

In shortly the local banks are as safe as the mainland banks. Even more safer then those.

Ali Gazi

eager


Joined: 23/02/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 16:08

Feel free to tell us which banks collapsed.

zcacmxi


Joined: 30/11/2008
Posts: 388

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 16:32

eager, I listed the local TRNC banks that collapsed above.



Some of the Turkish banks that failed and were taken over by government/merged/liquidated are:



TYT Bank, Impex Bank, İmar Bankası, Emlak Bank, Toprak Bank, Pamuk Bank, Kent Bank, Inter Bank, Iktisat Bank.

Stewart


Joined: 19/07/2008
Posts: 1107

Message Posted:
18/05/2009 18:21

Hi I bank with the HSBC.....10% all done over the internet, can send money to and from within 2 hours



if you require further details contact me via: scw@freshice.net

jamesfairclea


Joined: 09/06/2009
Posts: 2

Message Posted:
09/06/2009 12:42

Hi,



I am looking to make a sizeable investment into TL but am nervous about the security of the banks! I am a UK resident owning a property in TRNC. My questions are as follows:



1. Is the guarantee of 20,000 Euros per Account? i.e. if the bank goes bust and I have 100,000 Euros spread across 2 accounts both held in my name will I get 100,000 Euros back?



2. Who actually underwrites the guarantee? i.e. who would I go to in order to claim back my 100,000 euros and what would I need to show them to prove I have deposited 100,000 euros with the bank?



3. Is there a maximum time period for repayment of my funds written into the guarantee?



4. Can I get a copy of the written guarantee to read and verify before making a deposit with the bank?



5. The interest rates on offer give an exceptionally high yield (even factoring in currency fluctuations)compared to deposit accounts in europe. How is this achieved and how can it be sustained?



Regards

James

ozzieTC


Joined: 15/05/2009
Posts: 48

Message Posted:
09/06/2009 14:07

Biggest risk in holding your money in liras right now (as the European economy is heading south) is the drop in value in the lira, and the possibility of a devaluation. The cause of this will be the Turkish monetary authorities trying to keep the Turkish economy competitive - as demand for Turkish exports products drops, the price of those goods will need to drop in order for consumers to keep buying them. The Turkish government will intentionally devalue the lira if they are worried that the produce of Turkish factories and farms will not be bought by (mainly) European consumers. The downside to this is that people who have their savings in TL will lose. But the Turkish government considers it more important to keep people in jobs.



I would recommend Euros or GBP for your savings!

breezyboy


Joined: 14/05/2007
Posts: 1179

Message Posted:
09/06/2009 18:09

James

The guarantee by TRNC government is per account.

I think that the lessons learnt in the 2001 crash were taken on board by Turkish and TRNC banks very well.

Loan to value no more than 75%

Very few loans going overseas as a percentage of total.

A guy I know was paid out in full in a few weeks in 2001.

I use Creditwest, Iktisat and Garanti with a spread over1 month, 3 months and 12 months.

If you want to talk to the most knowledgeable guy on this subject go and see Sukru at Creditwest in Karakum.

He is a great chap with a wealth of experience in England and Cyprus.

eager


Joined: 23/02/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
09/06/2009 18:37

dzzieTC, good post, am keeping mine in sterling for a while yet, got a feelinmg things could be heading that way. No point in buying at 2.5, if there were to be devaluation of the lira then it would be nearer to 3ytl to the pound.