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Turkish state-run lender VakifBank announced Tuesday that it has secured $1 billion in funding under its Diversified Payment Rights (DPR) securitization program.
According to the bank, the deal was financed by a group of eight institutional investors spanning Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States, which uses incoming remittance flows, such as money transfers from abroad, as the basis for generating long-term funding instruments.
With this transaction, VakifBank’s total funding raised through the DPR program in 2025 has reached $1.7 billion. In its statement, the bank highlighted that the size of its transactions reflects both its growing role in foreign trade financing and the strong demand from international investors.
The DPR program is the only foreign-currency borrowing instrument among Turkish banks that carries an investment-grade rating. Through this new issuance, VakifBank became the Turkish lender that has attracted the highest level of remittance-backed funding from abroad so far in 2025.
Chief Executive Officer Abdi Serdar Ustunsalih said the international demand for the program demonstrates confidence in both VakifBank’s financial strength and Türkiye’s economy. He added that the funds raised will be directed toward projects supporting exports, investment, and employment, in line with the bank’s selective credit policies.
Ustunsalih also noted that Fitch Ratings upgraded the DPR program’s rating in September 2024 from "BB+" to "BBB-," which falls into the investment-grade category. He explained that this upgrade has drawn greater interest, particularly from institutional investors.
The CEO underlined that the five-to-10-year maturity structure enhances both predictability and alignment in the bank’s funding base. "By securing financing from eight investors across four continents, mainly in Europe and the Middle East, we achieved diversification that creates flexibility both in access and cost," he said.
VakifBank emphasized that its DPR program is structured to channel funds toward projects across corporate, commercial, and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) segments that prioritize exports, investment, and job creation.
Founded in 1954, VakifBank serves as one of the public lenders in Türkiye, with the Türkiye Wealth Fund (TWF) owning a 74% stake. The bank's total assets reached ₺4.6 trillion ($110.31 billion) as of the end of the first half of 2025.
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