I am posting here out of sheer frustration.
2 weeks ago IsBank, without any notice, cut off my access to the mobile app and digital channels, essentially leaving me without access to the money.
As ill luck would have it, a few days prior I had been in a motorbike accident in Asia. A complicated case racked up 7 k USD in hospital bills and I had no insurance. That's another thing - for whatever reason IsBank refuses to work with specific insurers. Akin to their prior weirdness with Airbnb.
When I realised i had no access to the bank app you could only imagine my state of mind. I live alone and have absolutely nobody to ask for help. I was lucky to live right next to the hospital so I put up all of my belongings on Facebook marketplace to make some money to pay for my hospital bills. I have been reaching out to the bank over the phone and email and all I could get is robotic indifferent responses. They asked me to come to the branch. With a broken leg in Asia. Unable to pay for my rent let alone fly 12 hours to Istanbul.
They never bothered to explain what the problem was. 20 emails sent, even more phone calls, and zero understanding whatsoever. Been banking with them for years. I am also a customer at multiple foreign banks and I have never seen more heartless treatment. I understand policies are policies but even Russian banks would allow me to remotely authorise myself over literal video call. These people just blatantly ignore and repeat the same script.
It gets ridiculous. Whenever I call the branch the same person picks up. Greetings in Turkish. When I ask for an English speaker, she says in perfect English that she doesn't speak English. Then she says she gonna transfer me to an English speaker. And hangs up. She did that 3 separate times.
Mind you, there is zero shady activity in my account. All I used it for is to pay for rent, buy food and pay for taxis. All the deposits are legit and they have documented proof of the source of income. 5+ years of banking with 0 security flagged transactions.
As the support explained to me, the decision to cut off access was done by the branch and they can undo it. Yet they refuse to hear anything. As I was told by the support the branch is obligated to respond in a few business days. It's been weeks.
I am not sure who else to contact. Their website doesn't even have an email address to message. You gotta call them, and if they feel like it, they'll spell out the address of the branch for you. That's about it.