This is the English version of a Turkish article. The original, with further detail and linked petition templates, is at Kredi Kartı Borcu ve Bankanın İcra Takibi.
The critical threshold in credit card debt is the bank's notice closing the account: after it, the whole debt becomes due and enforcement proceedings can begin. Once they have, the proceedings become final and attachment follows unless an objection is filed within seven days of service of the payment order. The minimum payment does not clear the debt; it only prevents default.
Credit card debt grows quickly once it is managed by minimum payments alone. At some point the bank calls in the account and enforcement begins.
This article explains how that process works, the limits on interest, and which objections can be raised once proceedings start.
Why the Minimum Payment Is Not Enough
The minimum payment is a proportion of the period's balance and only keeps the card open. Contractual interest continues to run on the unpaid part.
Where only the minimum is paid, the principal barely reduces; most of the payment goes to interest. The longer the cycle runs, the further the debt rises above what was actually spent.
If even the minimum is not paid, default interest applies, at a higher rate.
So when card debt starts to grow, the right step is to discuss converting it into a consumer loan or restructuring it with the bank; loan interest is markedly lower than card interest.
Is There a Ceiling on Credit Card Interest?
Credit card interest is not freely set. Under the Bank Cards and Credit Cards Act (Law no. 5464) the Central Bank fixes maximum contractual and default interest rates, and banks may not exceed them.
The same Act also prohibits adding default interest to the principal and charging interest on it again — compound interest is not permitted.
This is among the most frequent grounds of objection in enforcement proceedings: that the sum claimed was calculated at a rate above the maximum, or on a compound basis.
To check the calculation, ask the bank for the account statement and an interest breakdown.
What Does the Notice Calling In the Debt Mean?
When payments fall into arrears the bank relies on the contract to close the account and make the whole debt due. This is communicated by a notice calling in the account.
The notice matters: it establishes the basis of the proceedings and the date of acceleration. If it was not properly served, the proceedings become open to challenge.
The bank then begins enforcement, usually by the route that does not require a judgment.
In those proceedings the period for objecting to the payment order is seven days, and an objection filed in time stays the proceedings. The bank must then go to court to have the objection set aside or removed.
| Stage | What happens | Period / right |
|---|---|---|
| The minimum payment is made | Contractual interest runs on the balance | The debt does not clear; it grows |
| The minimum payment is not made | Default interest begins to run | — |
| Notice calling in the account | The whole debt becomes due | The period given in the notice |
| Enforcement proceedings | A payment order is served | 7 days to object |
| No objection is filed | The proceedings become final; attachment follows | — |
| A contention that nothing is owed | An action for a negative declaration may be brought | Before or after the proceedings |
Credit card interest is capped by the maximum rates the Central Bank sets; a calculation exceeding them can be challenged.
Which Objections Can Be Raised?
- Objection to the debt, in whole or in part. Where the objection is partial, the proceedings continue for the part not disputed.
- Objection to the interest. That the maximum rate was exceeded, or that compound interest was applied.
- Limitation. It must be raised in time and expressly.
- Unfair contract terms. Unfair terms in consumer contracts do not bind the consumer; some fee and commission items can be challenged on this basis.
- Objection to venue. That the proceedings were begun before an enforcement office without jurisdiction.
The grounds must be stated expressly in the objection. Objections to venue and limitation in particular will not be heard later if they were not raised in time and expressly.
If You Cannot Pay
Where the proceedings are final or the debt is undisputed, the priority is managing the pressure of enforcement:
- Salary attachment. The enforcement officer must leave what is needed for subsistence, and the whole salary can never be attached.
- Exempt property. A complaint may be made where household goods or tools of a trade have been attached.
- Payment by instalments may be proposed under Article 111 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act, or agreed with the creditor.
- Undertakings to pay. Be careful: breaching one carries a criminal consequence.
Always put any restructuring agreement with the bank in writing, and compare the total cost of the payment plan.
Credit card interest cannot exceed the maximum rate the Central Bank sets, and default interest cannot be added to the principal and charged interest again. The sum claimed may have been calculated contrary to those rules. And when a payment order arrives, do not miss the seven-day period.