Can foreign UnionPay cards be used for cash withdrawals and contactless payments in Antalya, Turkey?

In August 2026 a traveler said she could not pay with her Rosselkhozbank UnionPay card at several Migros stores or on a bus. Another participant in early August listed BIM, Migros and Şok as stores where payment failed; for him the card worked only at the airport duty-free.

According to a participant (August 2026), the card works in shops only if the terminal belongs to Garanti Bank and fails on other banks' terminals. This is one person's observation; another traveler briefly confirmed that the card does not work everywhere.

Cash withdrawals at ATMs worked according to August 2026 reports, but with a 10% fee — charged, as participants clarified, by the Turkish bank rather than Rosselkhozbank. In early August another participant wrote that a fixed fee (rather than a percentage) applied only at İş Bankası (blue) and VakıfBank (yellow) ATMs, while Ziraat had started charging 8%. Bank conditions change, so fee information goes out of date quickly.

Exchange rate on a rouble-denominated card in August 2026: a 70-lira purchase was charged as 125 roubles; another participant cited a conversion of about 1.79 roubles per lira. Compare this with exchanging cash yourself at the time of your trip.

The takeaway from participants' experience in summer 2026: do not rely on a Rosselkhozbank UnionPay card as your only payment method in Antalya — it is often declined in shops and on transport, and cash withdrawals are costly. Turkish lira in cash plus a backup card or other payment method will keep you covered.