Garanti BBVA Celebrates Its 80th Anniversary with New Exhibition
Garanti BBVA recently unveiled the exhibition ‘We’ve Been in the Future for 80 Years,’ on June 2nd at a special event for the press. The exhibition at Salt Galata chronicles the bank’s extensive journey over eight decades – from its founding in Ankara in 1946 to its current role as a driver of modern banking. Designed as an interactive, immersive experience, the exhibition aims to tell the stories of the employees, customers and stakeholders who have shaped the bank over the years.
Open to the public from June 3 to September 30, it marks the opening event of the bank’s year-long program designed to celebrate the bank’s legacy and vision for the future. Throughout the year, the anniversary program will bring together the Garanti BBVA family through Vision Meetings, events for its 23,000 employees, internal club projects and volunteer opportunities. The bank will also create a Memorial Forest with 80,000 saplings as part of its commitment to environmental sustainability.
At the press conference, Garanti BBVA General Manager Mahmut Akten emphasized the strength of the bank’s human capital, noting that its robust structure is the result of the efforts of employees. Despite its extensive history, he described Garanti BBVA as an institution that is constantly evolving and spearheading change in response to customer needs. “We are telling an 80-year-old story, but we do not feel 80 at all, nor do we make anyone feel it,” he added.
Reflecting on the bank’s journey, Akten explained that Garanti BBVA’s evolution over the years has mirrored Türkiye’s social and economic transformation. What began in 1946 to support production, reinforce trade and help connect the country to the global economy has evolved into one of the country’s leading financial institutions, constantly adapting to the changing context. Today, Garanti BBVA remains deeply committed to serving local communities and customers at every stage of their lives. “This is the story of an institution that constantly renews itself but never loses the sense of trust at its core,” he said.
Eight decades of banking innovation
Over its 80-year history, Garanti BBVA has introduced a number of innovations that have helped shape Türkiye's banking sector. The bank has played a pioneering role in areas ranging from real-time online banking infrastructure and internet banking to virtual POS systems, the Bonus payment platform, contactless payment technologies and AI-supported applications. Many services that are now standard across the industry were first developed through initiatives introduced by Garanti BBVA.
Preserving a shared heritage
The bank's approach to creating value extends beyond financial services. Through initiatives spanning culture and the arts, education, gender equality and environmental sustainability, Garanti BBVA has maintained a long-standing commitment to supporting broader social development.
An important part of that commitment is the preservation of institutional and cultural memory through its collaboration with Salt. Since 2023, a comprehensive archival project has catalogued and digitised more than 36,000 physical materials, including photographs, posters, reports, periodicals, films, brochures, advertisements and historical objects. The inventory of approximately 255,000 digital materials has also been completed.
Beginning in 2026, the first section of the Garanti BBVA Archive, comprising 10,000 documents as well as interviews documenting institutional memory, will be made publicly accessible through Salt Research. Developed with Salt's expertise in archiving and research, the project aims not only to preserve the bank's corporate history but also to make visible important aspects of Türkiye's economic and social transformation over the past eight decades.
Looking ahead
With 'We’ve Been in the Future for 80 Years', Garanti BBVA is marking a significant milestone in its history while creating new ways to preserve and share its legacy. Through the exhibition, anniversary initiatives and archival partnership with Salt, the bank is ensuring that its accumulated knowledge, experiences and stories remain accessible to future generations.