Aktif Bank joins China CIPS for yuan payments

Aktif Bank said the platform, developed by the People’s Bank of China, now serves more than 1,800 banks after expanding rapidly over the past five years. The lender said yuan payments through CIPS have accounted for 28% of China’s roughly $6 trillion in foreign trade volume over that period, underscoring how central the system has become to Beijing’s push to internationalize its currency.

The bank plans to open its digital banking platform so SMEs can make payments through CIPS, a notable step for a market where smaller firms often face the highest foreign-exchange friction and funding costs. That could make trade with China easier for Turkish manufacturers, importers and distributors, while also giving Aktif Bank a way to win more cross-border fee business.

The development also fits China’s broader effort to build financial channels less dependent on Western banking infrastructure, especially as yuan use rises in trade finance. For investors, the key implication is that banks with cross-border payment capability and access to China-linked settlement networks may gain an edge as companies diversify away from traditional dollar rails.

Aktif Bank said it wants to extend its payments network to China after building corridors in Europe and the Americas, suggesting this is part of a longer-term expansion strategy rather than a one-off deal. The next catalyst is whether other Turkish banks follow into CIPS and whether adoption among SMEs is fast enough to turn the platform into a meaningful source of transaction flow.