Kuryenet's success reflects rapid growth of credit card use in Turkey

Along with the rapid increase in credit card use in Turkey, more and more attention is being paid to the safe delivery of credit cards to bank customers. Turkey's largest credit card delivery company is Kuryenet, whose owner and founder Haluk Berdan says he entered the market after predicting in 1994 that there was a need for such a service. After 11 years of rapid growth, Kuryenet now delivers nearly 20 million credit cards a year to Turkish customers, and enjoys the status of being the most dependable name of its kind in the market.Says Berdan, "We have attracted the attention of foreign companies with the wide net we have cast to include villages and small towns. European and American firms are literally lining up to enter partnerships with us."  Istanbul accounts for more than half of credit card deliveries Referring to the active market, Berdan says Kuryenet's business has only increased as the demand for credit cards in Turkey has grown: "In 1995 we were delivering around 20-30 thousand credit cards a month, and now our company delivers around 1.5 million credit cards a month." Noting that 85% of the market belongs to Kuryenet, Berdan says "When we first founded the company, we were working with 3-4 banks, bu today we work with 18 banks, 4 financial companies, and 6 retirement fund companies." According to Berdan, around 60% of Kuryenet's deliveries are inside Istanbul, and that there high rate of problem-less delivery has gained the trust of banks. Though he does admit to occasional problems with address-changes and subsequential non-delivery, Berdan says that more than 90% of the credit card reach their intended owner with no problems.  Kuryenet could gain foreign partner soon Berdan attests that plans for Kuryenet include the potential sale of half of the company's net worth to a foreign interest. "We would like to explore cargo delivery in Turkey with a foreign partner, and we would like to open up to business outside of Turkey." Interestingly, while foreign investors eyeball Kuryenet for possible partnerships, Berdan says that consumers in Turkey generally assume that Kuryenet is just another motorcycle-courier company. Â