Lender, airliner jointly launch new credit card in Turkish market

ISTANBUL

Odeabank, the subsidiary of Bank Audi in Turkey, and airliner Atlasglobal have jointly launched a new credit card, and target the issuing of 500,000 new credit cards. 

The companies introduced the new card, dubbed “Bank’O Atlas,” at a joint press meeting in Istanbul on Nov. 23. 

“We have continued to make investments in Turkey. This project with Atlasglobal is one of these key investments,” said Odeabank CEO Hüseyin Özkaya, Reuters reported. 

“We plan to reach 500,000 new credit card holders with our new card within a few years,” Özkaya added. 
Odeabank has reached 800,000 active customers and around 400,000 credit card holders in Turkey in the retail banking sector, according to bank representatives.

Becoming the first bank to acquire a banking license from scratch after a period of 15 years in the Turkish banking sector, Odeabank obtained the operating license from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency in 2012. 

Meanwhile, the head of Atlasglobal said the company will establish two new airliners in Europe and the Gulf in 2017 through partnerships, and it will also grow its fleet by 30 percent with 27 new airplanes.

“We have already established airliners in Iraq and Ukraine. In 2017, we will make airline investments in two other countries in 2017. We will establish two new airline companies in Europe and the Gulf region through partnerships,” Atlasglobal Chair Murat Ersoy told Reuters. 

Ersoy added that the company aims to increase its foreign direct investments to a minimum of eight over the coming years.