Money transfers to Turkey for importers: paying a Turkish supplier

When an Iranian importer needs to pay a Turkish supplier, the task is not just "sending money to Turkey". The payment has to match the document the supplier issued, land in the company's own account and be provable later, in the books and, if needed, at customs. In a personal transfer a missing reference is usually fixed with one message; in a business payment the same gap can hold up a shipment or leave both sides' accounts out of balance.

This article explains the difference between a proforma and a commercial invoice, why the receiver should be a company account, how advance and balance payments are separated, and what to have ready before you submit a transfer request. The route is the one described on the business currency services page: enquiry, rate and fee confirmed before execution, your confirmation, then the deposit with a bank receipt.

Why paying a Turkish supplier is different

When you pay a company, the counterparty is a legal entity that keeps books and must tie every receipt to a document. The Turkish supplier expects the amount arriving in its account to equal the figure and currency on the proforma or invoice, the payment reference to show the document number or the buyer's name, and the money to arrive through a route it can record in its accounts.

The same sensitivity exists on your side. A payment that does not match the invoice causes trouble later in the import file and in correspondence with the supplier; money sent to the wrong account is hard to recover. That is why, in business payments, preparing the documents before the request matters more than the transfer itself. If transfer methods are new to you, the guide to sending money from Iran to Turkey gives the overall picture; this article covers only the commercial side.

Proforma vs commercial invoice

The supplier issues both documents, but at different moments and for different purposes.

Proforma invoice

A proforma is the supplier's formal quotation, issued before the order is final. It usually shows the description of the goods, quantity, unit price, total amount, currency, payment terms (for example part in advance and the rest before shipment), the validity of the offer and the supplier's bank details. The advance is normally paid against the proforma.

Commercial invoice

The commercial invoice is issued once the order is confirmed, usually when the goods are ready or shipped, and it is the final document of the sale. It records the final amount, currency, invoice number, the legal names of seller and buyer and the account details. The balance payment and the customs paperwork refer to this invoice, not to the proforma.

Warning: take bank details from the document itself and verify them through a second channel

One of the most common business frauds is an email or message that appears to come from the supplier and says "our account has changed, please pay to this new IBAN". The company name, logo and even the order number can be correct. Before every payment, take the account details only from the supplier's official document; if anything has changed, confirm it through a separate channel, such as a phone call to a number you already had. EL DÖVİZ deposits to the account you specify; the correctness of that account is your responsibility.

Company account or personal account?

The receiver of a business payment should be the account registered at the bank in the seller's legal name. The account holder's name on the proforma or invoice and the name registered at the bank must be identical; a difference of a single word can stop the deposit.

Paying the personal account of the supplier's manager, partner or employee carries several risks: the bank receipt will not match the invoice, proving payment to the company becomes difficult in a dispute, and if that person leaves the company, tracing the money gets complicated. If the supplier suggests a personal account for any reason, ask for the reason in writing and mention it in your request so it can be reviewed separately.

The second point is the account's currency. Turkish companies usually hold a lira account and many also hold a dollar or euro account. Each account has its own IBAN. The deposit must go to the account held in the currency written on the document; sending lira to the IBAN of a dollar account, or the reverse, is either returned or converted at the bank's own rate, which moves the figure away from the invoice.

Advance and balance payments

Most purchase contracts with Turkish sellers split the payment into two or more stages: part at order, the rest before shipment or after delivery. The split is set by the proforma, and it is best to base your requests on it.

Each stage is a separate request. For the advance you make one enquiry, the rate and fee of that day are confirmed, you approve and receive the receipt; for the balance the same cycle runs again at the rate of its own day. The first stage's rate is not locked for the second. If you say at the start that the payment is staged and give the approximate amounts, a more suitable route can be suggested for the whole contract.

In the reference of each deposit, write the proforma or invoice number and the payment stage so that the supplier's finance team can tie each receipt to the right document. Keep the bank receipts of all stages together; in the end their total should match the final invoice.

What to prepare for the request

• The supplier's proforma or invoice, the version that carries the bank details.
• The seller's legal company name exactly as registered at the bank, including Turkish characters if the name has them.
• The IBAN of the receiving account, the bank's name and, for foreign-currency accounts, the SWIFT/BIC code if available.
• The currency and amount of this stage of the payment, not the whole contract.
• Your relationship with the receiver and the purpose: purchase of goods, services, advance or balance.
• Your own company's documents; depending on the amount and type of payment, company registration documents may be requested. Exactly what is needed is confirmed after the request is reviewed.

The more complete these items are from the start, the faster the review runs without back and forth. The rate, the fee and the amount that will reach the supplier's account are confirmed before execution, and nothing is deposited until you approve.

Lira or another currency?

The supplier sets the payment currency through its pricing. If the proforma is in lira, the lira transfer to Turkey route applies: you pay in toman or USDT at origin and the lira is deposited to the company's IBAN. If the supplier has priced in dollars or euros, or its account is in a third country, SWIFT and SEPA transfers from Turkey are reviewed; availability for each destination and currency is confirmed after the request is reviewed and is never guaranteed in advance.

If the supplier accepts both options, the comparison is simple: for the specific amount of this order, request a quote for both routes and compare the net amount that reaches the supplier's account, not only the exchange rate.

Customs and tax

Import duties, VAT, import registration and clearance documents depend on the type of goods, the country of origin and the year, and they are outside the scope of this article. Discuss them with your customs broker and accountant before paying, so that the document you obtain from the supplier matches what your import file needs. EL DÖVİZ's role in this process is only to deliver the payment to the supplier's account with a bank receipt.

To start, enter the amount and currency of this payment stage and the type of receiving account in the quote form, and state in the request text that the receiver is a company. After review, EL DÖVİZ confirms the rate and fee before anything is executed.