Send money to Türkiye from Australia
Grey converts from your Grey balance into Turkish lira and pays a TR IBAN directly, at Ziraat Bankası, İş Bankası, Garanti BBVA, Akbank, Yapı Kredi or any other bank in Türkiye. The lira figure and the fee sit on the same screen in Sydney or Melbourne before you confirm, and the rate is fixed at that point. Your recipient in Istanbul, Ankara or Izmir receives a normal domestic credit.
AUD
TRY
-
Trusted by 3M+ people around the world
GOOGLE PLAY •22K REVIEWS
APP STORE • 12K REVIEWS
A corridor sixty years old, still running
Turkish migration to Australia began in earnest with the labour agreement of the late 1960s, and the communities it created are still where they settled: Auburn in Sydney, Broadmeadows and Coburg in Melbourne. Three generations on, the money moving between the two countries is not a new remittance flow. It is the ordinary business of families who have been in both places for half a century.
That shapes what this corridor carries. Alongside regular support to relatives, there are property payments in Istanbul and the Anatolian provinces, contributions to estates and inheritance settlements after a death, deposits on apartments, and the costs of maintaining a place in a village that a family has never quite let go of. These are larger and less frequent than a monthly remittance, and the lira figure matters more because of it.
Grey pays lira into a Turkish bank account. You convert once, out of the US dollar, pound or euro balance you hold, and the lira lands at the recipient's own bank as a domestic credit. Nobody in Türkiye signs up to anything and nothing is taken from them on arrival.
Three steps from Australia to Türkiye
Open a Grey account
Free and quick, about five minutes on the phone. Verification takes a valid identity document, usually an Australian passport or a driver licence.
Fund a balance
There is no Australian dollar balance on Grey. You hold US dollars provided by Lead Bank, pounds or euro, filled by income arriving or by a transfer you make from an account you hold offshore.
Paste the TR IBAN
Türkiye runs entirely on IBANs. Paste the recipient's 26 character TR IBAN, check the lira amount and the fee, and confirm. The rate is fixed at that moment.
What sending lira to Türkiye costs
On a property deposit or an estate distribution, the transfer is large and happens once, which changes what you should be watching. A margin inside the rate on a payment of that size is not a rounding error, and there is no second transfer next month to average it out. The rate is effectively the whole negotiation.
Australian families settling an inheritance in Türkiye often have a lira figure fixed by a notary or a solicitor, and the payment has to cover it. Being shown the lira before you confirm, rather than finding out afterwards, is the difference between paying once and having to top up.
How the rate into lira is fixed
Grey shows the live rate from your balance into Turkish lira next to the fee, and holds it from the moment you confirm. The lira amount displayed is the lira amount credited to the TR IBAN, and no adjustment is made while the transfer is travelling.
Lira has been a volatile currency for some years, which makes that fixing more useful here than on a steadier pair. A quote you saw this morning and a quote you see this evening can differ, so the moment of confirmation is the moment that counts, and Grey makes it explicit rather than leaving it implied.
Grey against an Australian bank paying Türkiye
Australian banks price the lira badly because they see little of it. The usual offer is a SWIFT payment in dollars or euro, several days in transit, correspondent banks with their own charges, and a conversion done at the Turkish end at whatever rate the receiving bank applies that day. Grey quotes the lira directly from Australia, fixes it, and pays the TR IBAN as a domestic credit. Australians are used to Osko clearing between two local accounts in seconds, so the gap between that and a week of uncertainty on a payment to Ankara is the comparison that actually lands.
What the recipient in Türkiye sees
Lira in their account at Ziraat Bankası, İş Bankası, Garanti BBVA, Akbank, Yapı Kredi or any other Turkish bank, shown like any domestic deposit. They need no Grey account and Grey takes nothing from them.
Any bank in Türkiye
The TR IBAN identifies both bank and account, so the lira reaches Ziraat Bankası in a village branch as readily as Garanti BBVA in Istanbul.
Nothing deducted on arrival
The lira you confirmed is the lira that posts to the account. No receiving fee is taken by Grey and nothing is shaved off in transit.
Saved for next time
Save the IBAN once and a repeat payment to the same relative, solicitor or building manager becomes a confirmation rather than a retyping exercise.
How foreign currency reaches your Grey account
Since there is no Australian dollar top up, the balance is built from money arriving in a currency Grey holds.
Paid directly into Grey
Give a foreign employer or client your Grey US dollar, pound or euro account details and let the payment land there rather than somewhere else first.
Moved in by you
Transfer funds into the balance from an account you already hold outside Australia, then convert into lira when the Turkish payment is needed.
Held ready
A standing balance matters on this corridor, because a property settlement or a funeral cost in Türkiye rarely gives notice.
Families who send to Türkiye tend to alternate between small regular amounts and occasional large ones, and a balance already in place handles the second kind without a scramble.
What Australians send to Türkiye for
Family support
Regular amounts from Auburn, Coburg and Broadmeadows to parents and relatives in Istanbul, Izmir, Konya and the Anatolian provinces people originally came from.
Property in Türkiye
Deposits, instalments, building charges and maintenance on apartments and village houses that Australian Turkish families have held for decades.
Estates and inheritance
Settling a share of an estate, paying a notary or a solicitor in lira, and distributing to siblings in Türkiye after a death in Melbourne or Sydney.
Weddings and family occasions
Contributions to a wedding in the home town, sent ahead of time so the lira is in the right account before the arrangements are made.
This is not a student corridor or a trade corridor primarily. It is a family corridor with fifty years of property and obligation attached to it.
Why Australians run this corridor on Grey
Open the account, fund a balance, paste the TR IBAN and confirm the lira. Saving the recipient makes every payment after the first one a matter of seconds.
More than eighty countries use Grey. Transfers are encrypted, and the person waiting in Türkiye can see the money arriving at the same moment you see it settle.
FAQs
Does Grey pay Turkish lira into a TR IBAN?
Yes. Grey converts from your balance into lira and credits the 26 character TR IBAN at Ziraat Bankası, Garanti BBVA, Akbank or any Turkish bank.
Can I send Australian dollars straight to a bank in Türkiye?
No. Grey holds no Australian dollar balance, so you hold US dollars from Lead Bank, pounds or euro and convert into lira when sending.
Where does my relative in Istanbul find their TR IBAN?
It appears in their banking app or on a statement from Ziraat Bankası, İş Bankası or whichever Turkish bank they use, as one continuous 26 character string.
Is the lira amount fixed before the money leaves Australia?
Yes. Grey shows the lira figure and the fee before confirmation and fixes the rate at that moment, so nothing is recalculated in transit.
Can I use Grey to settle an estate or pay a notary in Türkiye?
Yes. Lira goes into the TR IBAN of a solicitor, notary or family member, which suits inheritance payments where a fixed lira figure has been set.
Does my family in Auburn or Coburg need anything from the recipient besides the IBAN?
The account holder's name as the Turkish bank records it, alongside the TR IBAN. Nothing else is required and the recipient installs nothing.
Does anyone in Türkiye pay a fee to receive the lira?
Grey charges the recipient nothing and takes nothing on arrival. The lira you confirmed is the lira that posts to their account.
Why do Australian banks quote the lira so poorly?
Lira is a thin market for them, so they price it defensively and usually route the payment as dollars or euro converted at the Turkish end.
Can I pay building charges on an apartment in Izmir from Melbourne?
Yes. Save the building manager's TR IBAN once and each later payment becomes a confirmation rather than a fresh entry of the details.
Is Grey a bank behind the lira payout in Türkiye?
No. Grey Inc is a financial technology company rather than a bank, and licensed banking partners provide the banking services behind each transfer.
How quickly does a transfer to a Turkish bank settle from a funded balance?
Funded transfers usually settle in Türkiye the same day, and you can follow the payment in the app from confirmation until the lira posts.
Get digital banking
at your fingertips
