Ziraat Bank’s foundations were laid down with the Homeland Funds, established in 1863, which went down in history as one of the first examples of National Banking. Since then, the Bank has served as the driving force of Turkey’s economic growth with its rapid development and widespread service process since its establishment.

1863-1888

• On 20 November 1863, Mithat Paşa spearheads the establishment of Memleket Sandıkları (Homeland Funds) in the town of Pirot, which later served as the core from which Ziraat Bank grew.
• Turkey’s first statutorily regulated credit system is launched.
• Mithat Paşa’s Homeland Funds are reconstituted as Menafi Sandıkları (Benefit Funds) to become stronger and more sustainable.
• Ziraat Bank’s Headquarters are opened in İstanbul.

1889-1913

• Ziraat Bank extends credit to the Imperial Treasury for the first time.
• Ziraat Bank supplies credit to supply grain to needy refugees and others in drought-stricken İzmit.
• A project to fund purchases of European agricultural equipment using Ziraat Bank’s capital is studied.
• Ziraat Bank offices are opened in Kerek, İpek, Prizren, Timişoara and Karacasu.
• Ziraat Bank provides drought-stricken Kosovo farmers with low-cost credit on convenient terms.
• Ziraat Bank opens a branch in Medina.
• Ziraat Bank branches open in Baghdad and Basra.
• Ziraat Bank branches provide earthquake-stricken farmers with loans.

1914-1938

• Ziraat Bank begins lending to commercial enterprises.
• The Ziraat Bank Banking School begins instruction in order to keep the Bank supplied with the qualified human resources that it needs.
• The first seed-finance loans are provided.
• First general deferment is granted on agricultural loans.
• With the opening of the Grand National Assembly in Ankara, the city’s Ziraat Bank branch is made responsible for the administration and oversight of all Bank branches and offices in localities controlled by the Nationalists.
• Control of Ziraat Bank’s İzmir and İstanbul operations are given to Ankara.

1939-1963

• Work is completed on the set of operational regulations called for by Statute 3202. Consisting of 198 articles, the regulations governing the operations of Ziraat Bank go into effect.
• Ziraat Bank becomes a member of Confédération Internationale du Crédit Agricole (CICA), a non-profit worldwide association of banks and other entities interested and involved in rural financial processes.
• Under Statute 7052, Ziraat Bank is authorized to restructure agricultural loan repayments.

1964-1988

• Ziraat Bank’s representative office opens in Hamburg.
• Ziraat Bank opens its Lefkoşa, Gazimağusa and Güzelyurt branches in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
• Ziraat Bank’s representative office in New York is transformed into a branch while new offices are opened in Duisburg, Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart and Rotterdam.
• Under the Ziraat Bank 86 project, the first steps to adapt improvements in technology to banking services so as to deliver them faster, more efficiently and at better quality are taken with the automation of a total of 7 branches located in Ankara and İstanbul.
• Ziraat Bank ranks 452nd among “The World’s 500 Biggest Banks as Measured by Equity” according to Euromoney, a magazine.

1989-2012

• The first investment fund (Fund I) was established.
• Gold sales were initiated under the name of Ziraat Gold. The first consumer loan was issued, along with the first credit card. The Bingöl-Muş Rural Development Project was initiated.
• As well as ATM machines, foreign currency exchange machines were brought into service for the first time in Turkey, along with self-service information terminals, voice messaging systems and the Bingöl-Muş Rural Development Project, which included a branch not requiring human staffing, aiming to provide uninterrupted 24-hour service.
• Ziraat Bank Moscow, Kazkommerts Ziraat International Bank (KZI Bank), Turkmen Turkish Commercial Bank (TTC Bank) and Uzbekistan Turkish Bank (UT Bank) were established and entered operation.
• Ziraat Bank was ranked 202nd in Euromoney’s “Top 500 Banks”, 41st in terms of net profit, and the world’s first in terms of its return on equity. Moreover, the Bank ranked 12th in the “World’s 50 Most Rapidly Developing Banks” listing.
• The Sofia Branch entered operation.
• The Stuttgart, Hannover, Frankfurt and Duisburg representative offices began to operate as branches. Newly-launched banking software makes it easier to create and offer new products and services.
• Turkish-Ziraat Bank Bosnia DD receives Visa and Europay International licenses and begins processing Visa acquiring and issuing transactions for the first time in Bosnia- Herzegovina in coordination with Ziraat Kart A.Ş.
• The Law numbered 4603 passed on 25 November 2000 paved the way for Ziraat Bank to be transformed into a joint-stock company.
• The scope of the banking software centralization project (Fin@rt) is expanded.
• In Greece, the Athens and Komotini branches entered operation.
• The Bank announced TL 3,511 million net profit, the highest profit ever announced by a Turkish company until 2009.
• Branches were opened in Baghdad, Erbil and Jeddah.
• Ziraat Bank purchases the rights to the Turkish Cup name.
• Ziraat Bank launches its “Together, to a Better Future” Change & Transformation Project.

2013-2016

• Ziraat Bank celebrates its first century and a half in business with its employees.
• On September 30, 2014, the Board of Directors approved and announced the Sustainability Policy which summarizes Ziraat Bank’s sustainability vision, goals and approach and defines the Bank’s stance on the pillars of the environment, society and products and services.
• Ziraat Bank published its first sustainability report, which was GRI rated at A+ standards.
• Ziraat Bank tops the 2014 corporate income tax league table.
• Ziraat Participation commences operations.
• The Bank’s Pristina Branch opens in Kosovo.
• Ziraat Bank Azerbaijan ASC commences operations.
• Ziraat Bank is designated “Europe’s 2nd Most Robust Bank”.
• Ziraat Bank Montenegro AD commences operations.
• In keeping with its principle of sustainable profitability, Ziraat Bank reports 2015 profits amounting to TL 5,162 million, the highest of Turkish banking sector.
• The Marneuli Branch in Georgia and the Bahrain Branch in Manama/Bahrain were opened.
• Ziraat REIT joined the Ziraat Finance Group and began operations.
• Ziraat Bank wrote a net profit of TL 6,576 million in 2016, while reporting TL 358 billion of assets at the end of 2016.

2017

• In 2017, the Georgia branch was restructured into a new bank and JSC Ziraat Bank Georgia was established.
• The name of the subsidiary bank in Uzbekistan, in which Ziraat Bank’s share in the capital increased to 100%, was changed to Ziraat Bank Uzbekistan JSC.
• Ziraat Bank reached an asset size of TL 434 billion in 2017.

2018

• The Bank’s own brand Bankkart was launched in the first quarter of 2018.
• Young Farmers Academy project, which was developed by the Bank to bring a new perspective to agricultural production and agricultural banking, was launched with the objectives of increasing young population’s interest in farming, teaching specific topics in agricultural production and investment, raising conscious young farmers and creating an awareness of agricultural entrepreneurship.
• Ziraat Girişim Sermayesi Yatırım Ortaklığı A.Ş. (Ziraat Venture Capital Investment Trust) has been established as a subsidiary of the Bank and transactions related to establishment were completed with its registration notice published in the Turkish Trade Registry Gazette on November 14, 2018.
• The asset size of Ziraat Bank reached TL 537 billion in 2018 exceeding the half trillion mark.

2019

• Ziraat Bank’s asset volume increased by 21% compared to 2018 to reach TL 650 billion.
• Ziraat Bank became the bank to have the highest brand value in Turkey.
• Ziraat Bank was named as the most loved bank brand in Turkey for the fourth time in a row.
• Ziraat Leasing was merged with Ziraat Participation Bank.
• Asset management companies owned by three state banks merged under the name Ziraat Portföy Yönetim A.Ş.
• 2020
• Ziraat Bank’s paid-in capital raised to TL 13.1 billion from TL 6.1 billion.
• Ziraat Bank’s asset volume grew by 45% compared to its 2019 level to reach TL 943 billion.
• The number of locations providing services abroad reached 113.
• Within the scope of the project to bring insurance/life-pension companies owned by public banks under a single roof, Ziraat Sigorta A.Ş. (Insurance) and Ziraat Hayat ve Emeklilik A.Ş. (Life and Pension) were transferred to the Turkey Wealth Fund.
• The Bank continued to provide financing support for the agricultural sector under the project “Köyümde Yaşamak İçin Bir Sürü Nedenim Var (I Have Many Reasons To Live In My Village)”, which it put into practice in September 2020.
• The Green, Social, Sustainable Finance Framework was prepared and published on the Bank’s website.

2021

• Ziraat Bank’s asset volume reached TL 1,371 billion, an increase of 45% compared to 2020.
• Turkey’s real estate giant, Ziraat GYO (Real Estate Investment Trust), was offered to the public.
• Ziraat Bank issued its first Sustainability Bond in international markets.
• Ziraat Bank’s 5th branch in Bulgaria was opened in Burgas, while its subsidiary, Ziraat Bank Uzbekistan JSC, opened its 5th branch in Fergana. Ziraat Bank Azerbaijan ASC’s 6th branch opened in Azadlık.

2022

• Ziraat Bank’s asset volume increased by 68.6% compared to 2021 to reach TL 2,312 billion.
• The seventh branch of Ziraat Bank Azerbaijan ASC opened its doors in Baku and the sixth branch of Ziraat Bank Uzbekistan JSC entered service in Andijan.
• Ziraat Bank secured the first sustainability themed syndicated loan, with the USD 1.3 billion loan being the largest sustainability themed syndicated loan provided by a bank in a single tranche.
• Within the scope of “Financing the Agricultural Ecosystem”, the Young Farmer’s Loan, the Women Farmer’s Loan, Gold Hive Loan, Loan for Solar Powered Agriculture, Producer Cooperative Loan and Agricultural Transfer Loan were offered to customers.
• With the new organizational structuring carried out at the Bank, work on the coordination and development of sustainability activities in the environmental, social and governance area were initiated under the Project Finance and Sustainability Department.
• Within the scope of Zero Waste Project, the Zero Waste Certificate was obtained for 1,365 facilities from the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change.
• Ziraat Bank obtained the international I-REC certificate by procuring 50,000 MWh of its 2022 electricity consumption from renewable energy sources.
• Ziraat Bank initiated its Open Banking activities,
• Ziraat Super Branch commissioned as Ziraat Bank’s Digital Branch service model.