Developments in participation banking sector in turkey and customer pleasure in participation banks: The case of Türkiye Finans Participation Bank

Initiatives, concerning transfering the principles of interest-free banking into practice which has become a major development trend around the world, began to find out areas of application from the idea-stage in the 1970s. Became widespread within the name of "interest-free banking", Participation Banks have originally been operating in Muslim sayıries; however today all around the world these banks are gradually gaining more importance in need of evaluating the savings.These institutions, formerly named as "Private Financial Institutions", were granted permission to be established by decree in 1983; and later on with the amendment of No.5411 Banking Law with their new name "Participation Banks" since 2006, these institutions have showed an enormous improvement in the last decade. With the amendment, Participation Banks have greatly benefited from being depended on Banking Law and having equal rights with commercial banks.In today's conditions where the competition is continually increasing, it is an inevitable fact that banks are in hard-work to make a difference and advance their success. Setting out from the concept of modern marketing, the priority aim of the banks to advance their success is to move the customer satisfaction to the highest level.In this study, evolution process of Participation Banks in the world and in Turkey is mentioned; the information is given regarding these banks' operating areas, their contributions to the economy and the problems they face with; and a survey about customer satisfaction is conducted on a Türkiye Finans Participation bank. The questionnaire is applied on the branches of Turkiye Finans Participation Bank in Denizli, Istanbul, Bursa, Ankara, Isparta, Antalya, Manisa, Usak, Izmir, Rize, Adıyaman, Kahramanmaras.Keywords: Participation Banking, Interest-free Banking, Customer Pleasure, Private Financial Institutions