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PART I: INTRODUCTION
Investment Program. Special posters and
flyers were printed on the matter to ensure
that producers can access those state grants.
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At agricultural fairs held in Bursa, İzmir,
Antalya, Adana, Konya, Denizli and
visited by over 100 thousand producers,
agricultural banking booths were set up.
Regional branches’ personnel specialized
in agricultural banking took turns serving in
these booths, providing detailed information
on agricultural banking operations to visitors
such as members of agricultural chambers
and unions as well as other players in the
agricultural value chain.
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In order to precisely identify the needs of
agricultural producers and offer them loans
at rates convenient for the industry, the Bank
established partnerships with producers’
chambers, unions and cooperatives covering
issues such as operating capital or dairy
animal purchases. In this scope, from 2015
onwards, the Bank has developed nearly 100
such affordable loan schemes in collaboration
with Chamber of Agriculture, Union of Dairy
Farmers, Union of Breeding Cattle Farmers,
and Association of Red Meat Producers.
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In order to successfully promote VakıfBank’s
support to the sector, from September 2015
onwards, the Agricultural Banking Visit Weeks
program was initiated. In this scope, every
branch with a set agricultural loan target
paid regular visits to chambers of agriculture,
unions of producers as well as firms in the
agricultural value chain. In total, the branches
carried out over 1,500 visits to such farmers’
associations or markets.
–– VakıfBank has also launched the TMO
Kart, which allows wheat, barley,
corn or rice producers to receive their
payments from Turkish Grain Board
(TMO) in a quick and practical fashion.
VakıfBank TMO Kart holders were offered
free access to banking services such
as EFT, money transfer and account
maintenance, thereby expanding the
scope of our support to farmers.
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In November 2015, the Bank launched the
product called TarımKart, which enables
agricultural producers to purchase from
contracted merchants their basic needs
such as animal feed, fertilizer, fuel, seeds,
saplings and pesticides without interest
payments for up to six months, allows them
to repay card debt in harvest time, and
enables them to withdraw money from the
ATMs of all banks. TarımKart is available to
all producers engaged in any activity from
crop plantation to animal husbandry. When
they receive their bank statement, VakıfBank
TarımKart holders can choose to pay a
minimum amount and postpone the rest
of the payment until the next period, issue
supplementary cards, pay their SGK, BAĞKUR
premiums or phone, water and power bills
with automatic payment orders at harvest
time, and to take out loans, pay debt and
make inquiries via the VakıfBank mobile app.
True to its banking philosophy compassionate
to producers, VakıfBank allows farmers to
apply for TarımKart via not only branches, but
also SMS, call center, and online banking.
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The Bank joined forces with its insurance
subsidiary Güneş Sigorta A.Ş. to offer
agricultural producers state-supported
insurance policies from the Agricultural
Insurance Pool (TARSİM), to help them
protect their crops and animals against
disease, frost, hail, flooding and other
natural risks. Half of this insurance premium
is covered by the state. Sales personnel
received one-on-one training on state-
supported agricultural insurance schemes
launched in 2006, and award campaigns
targeting branch managers and employees
were organized in agricultural banking
branches to encourage them to better
market insurance services to producers.
