Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Can anyone help with recommendations on which are the top 3 safest banks on the island both for rates of interest and being on a sound financial footing. Are government banks safer than private banks?

Does anyone have experience of Viyabank?

Just heard from TC friends Creditwest executive been arrested for fraud!!!

Please confirm where you got the info re 3 executives arrested for fraud. I believe , or so I have been told, that the gentleman who has been arrested is a FORMER executive of CreditWest. No current ones have been arrested. If I am wrong, please give the source of the info, as it is not fair to discredit the bank , which is also, I believe, the top of the three leading banks in TRNC.

I say, 'believe' as I was told from a reliable source, - a source i believe.

Nowhere did OP say 3 executives arrested for fraud...….

From https://www.lgcnews.com/altinbas-family-in-custody-over-alleged-property-scam/

Altinbas Family in Custody Over Alleged Property Scam

Well-known businessmen Vakkas Altinbas and Mehmet Altinbas who were arrested on Monday for their suspected involvement in a property transfer scam have been ordered to remain in custody for a further three days by Kyrenia district court.

Vakkas Altinbas, his son Mehmet, his daughter’s father-in-law Mehmet Akacan and four others were arrested on Monday and taken to court on Tuesday over irregularities concerning the purchase of properties in Kyrenia worth over £7 million. Another Altinbas family member Orkun Altinbas, believed to be involved in the case, faces arrest on his return from a trip abroad.

Allegedly, Altinbas paid £4 million to the property owner, issuing two more cheques for the remaining £3,000,500. These were later cancelled by a director of one of the Altinbas companies, claiming that they had not been given the 18 properties which were covered by the full amount.

Reports said one witness had told police that approximately two months after the Kyrenia property owner died, he had prepared a fake document on Altinbas’ request for the purchase of the property. The man said that he had received around £1 million from Altinbas for signing the contract as an independent representative in 2017.

The Altinbas family claim that they are the victims of a conspiracy against them

Altinbas Holdings was established by Mehmet Altinbas, who was engaged in agriculture in 1950s, in Gaziantep. In 1979, Mehmet Altınbas’s children started to trade with a jewellery shop opened in North Cyprus under the name of Ali Vakkas Altinbas Jewellery. In 1985 it began goldsmith and jewellery activities in Turkey. As of 2014, Altinbas Holding has been operating in the fields of energy, finance, jewellery, logistics and education.

Havadis, Yeni Duzen


None of these gentlemen are named on the Board of Directors of Creditwest bank as listed here

All very interesting...allegedly...and ever so slightly relevant .... .....BUT the original question posted was ..............?????

Bahcelibelly wrote:All very interesting...allegedly...and ever so slightly relevant .... .....BUT the original question posted was ..............?????

I would have thought it would be of interest since one of the criteria you asked about was security of the banks - and Creditwest is one of (if not the?) biggest expat banks in the TRNC.

Certainly customers are a little anxious (at least this one is).

But each to their own.

Totally get what you stated Mowgli hence my conservative usage of 'allegedly'

In my experience in TRNC a snippet of fact ( your post ) is more valuable than an encyclopaedia of rumour/misrepresentation , as a customer of Credit West for 10 years i too am more than a tad concerned .

Investing in banks over here is fraught with risk and can be judged at times by the interest rates proffered .Spreading that risk between banks is sound advice , even at at the expense of realising ' the highest rate of interest' . Hence the reason for my post .

For security I would recommend Garanti BBVA & TEB (BNP Paribas) as these are amongst the top international banks
However due to this they do not pay the best interest
The link between the principals of Creditwest & Akacan is a family, not financial one with a daughter of the former being married to a son of the latter

Agree with Ozankoys

I would only use Garanti or TEB

Thanks for the help and info and have decided to spread the risk and put 100 tl in every bank on the island ..................and spend the rest on drink lol ,

Regards,

Paul

What is the consensus on Capital Bank and/or Near East as to regards safety/security?

What was the consensus in regard to the last of the big banks in the UK to go to the wall? Are any of them truly safe? I think not hence the reason for splitting your accounts into maximum of 20,000 Euros each really.

I use Turkish Bank and have never had a problem. Long ago, when transferring money was not always easy, they told me to go to the Turkish bank branch in London to sort out transfers and they did!!! Customer service is perfect too, certainly the 2 branches I use here