Credit applications no longer stop at balance sheets and collateral. Banks, especially on green and export loans, have started looking at a company’s environmental and social performance too — reduced to a single number. In Turkey, that number is increasingly called Greendeks.
Developed by the Credit Bureau of Turkey (KKB), Greendeks is an index that measures and reports a company’s sustainability standing. Where KKB’s Findeks score signals financial creditworthiness, Greendeks applies a similar logic to environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. Until recently, ESG mostly sat on the agenda of large, listed companies; Greendeks brings it directly to the SME lending desk. This piece covers what Greendeks is, why it suddenly matters, and where a company can start improving its score.
What Greendeks is, and who runs it
Greendeks is a sustainability index offered by KKB. Companies answer a sector-specific questionnaire covering environmental, social, and governance topics, and receive a score. According to KKB’s product page, 36 separate sector question sets exist, and the platform is open to companies of any size — large, mid-sized, or small.
The score itself isn’t the whole output. The system also generates an action plan, a report, and, for companies that want it, a certificate. KKB draws on a database of more than 1,000 recorded action recommendations and surfaces the ones relevant to a company’s gaps — so the score behaves less like a one-off audit and more like a dashboard you keep watching.
Why it matters now
ESG criteria used to be a topic for large, listed companies; Turkey’s Capital Markets Board (SPK) has gradually expanded sustainability disclosure requirements for listed firms, and that pressure trickles down. But the real shift came when banks started attaching ESG criteria to SME-facing loan products themselves.
Ziraat Bankası’s green export loan package, for instance, is reported to require an active Greendeks score of at least level C as an application condition. One example doesn’t make a rule, but it signals a direction: banks want to evaluate sustainability as a measurable number rather than a general promise. Loan conditions and packages change frequently, so confirm current requirements with the bank before applying.
Behind this shift sits pressure from the financial system itself: banks are shaping their lending portfolios around international ESG reporting expectations, and that eventually lands on individual SME loans.
The same pressure shows up in supply chains
The credit desk isn’t the only place this comes up. If a large customer sells into the EU, or falls under CSRD itself, you may already be answering similar questions on supplier assessment forms — energy use, emissions, labor practices. Greendeks isn’t a separate answer to those requests; it’s a standardized way of presenting the same underlying data.
The real risk here is answering the same questions repeatedly in different formats for different audiences. Once the data infrastructure is built correctly, Greendeks, bank reporting, and supplier requests can all draw from the same source.
What data feeds the score
Greendeks’ three dimensions — E, S, G — map to practical question areas like this:
| Dimension | Typical topic | Typical SME data source |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental (E) | Energy use, waste management, emissions | Energy bills, production/machine data, a carbon footprint calculation if available |
| Social (S) | Labor rights, occupational health & safety, supply chain | HR records, health-and-safety documentation, supplier list |
| Governance (G) | Transparency, ethics policy, risk management | Company policies, decision-making processes, audit records |
Filling out the questionnaire isn’t hard by itself; what’s hard is having accurate, consistent data ready before you start. A company that has never tracked its energy consumption can’t answer that question with a number instead of a guess — and the same gap shows up on the social and governance side: no written policy means the honest answer is “no.”
Improving the score starts with measurement
Treating Greendeks as a form to fill out once is a short-lived fix. Actually raising the score depends on producing the underlying data consistently:
- Measure — Collect energy, production, and emissions data (where relevant) in a verifiable, ongoing way. Not a one-time spreadsheet — a data flow you can keep running.
- Transform — Move scattered data into a single source of truth; let your digital transition infrastructure (ERP, meter/sensor integration) generate that data automatically.
- Sustain — Feed Greendeks, bank reporting, and any CBAM/CSRD requests from the same data source, so you’re not rebuilding the answer for every request.
These three steps are really another expression of running green transition and digitalization along the same track. A loan application can be the trigger, but once the infrastructure exists, CBAM reporting, supplier requests, and internal efficiency tracking all draw on the same data. On the social and governance side, no major investment is usually needed — making existing HR and company policies written, current, and accessible is often enough.
A checklist for the evaluation process
Before starting on Greendeks, or trying to raise an existing score, it helps to answer these questions first:
- Have you collected energy and production data on a regular, meter/sensor basis over the last 12 months, or is it estimated?
- Do you have a carbon footprint calculation, and if not, which scope (1, 2, or 3) should you start with?
- Are your health-and-safety, labor, and supplier-selection policies written and current?
- Will you treat the score as a one-time form, or as an indicator you track continuously?
- Will this data feed Greendeks, your bank, and any CBAM/CSRD requests from the same source?
Companies that want a clear roadmap based on these criteria can request an evaluation call through the contact form.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Greendeks mandatory?
No, it isn’t a legal requirement. But some banks appear to require it as a condition for specific loan packages, particularly green and export loans. For companies planning to borrow, it becomes practically important.
Who calculates the score, and how?
KKB generates the index from a company’s answers to a sector-specific questionnaire. There are 36 separate sector question sets, and the score comes with an action plan and a report.
Does it matter for a small company?
Yes — Greendeks is designed for companies of any size, large, mid-sized, or small. A small company’s advantage is building its data collection process correctly from scratch, rather than untangling years of scattered records the way a larger company might have to.
Is there a connection between Greendeks and CBAM/CSRD?
They aren’t directly linked, but they draw on the same underlying data — energy, emissions, supply chain. Once you’ve built the right infrastructure to collect that data, you can answer Greendeks, CBAM/CSRD requests, and bank reporting from the same source.
Does a low score mean the loan gets rejected?
That depends on the bank and the specific loan product; it isn’t safe to generalize. Confirm the exact conditions with the bank you’re applying to — a low score usually triggers a request for more time or an action plan, not an outright rejection.