Factoring industry association FCI has appointed Betül Kurtuluş as secretary general, taking over from Neal Harm after an eight-month transition period.
Kurtuluş, who has over three decades of experience in factoring and receivables finance, was named FCI’s deputy secretary general in February 2026, at the same time as Harm announced he would be retiring in September this year.
“Betül’s appointment represents the successful completion of the leadership transition we began earlier this year,” said Chenyue Mao, chairwoman of FCI.
“Her extensive industry experience, deep understanding of FCI and strong relationships across our global network provide an excellent foundation for this next phase.”
Kurtuluş first joined FCI in 2018 as regional director for Central and Eastern Europe, South-Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Europe. She later became director of strategic marketing and business development before taking the deputy role.
Before FCI, she was general manager and board member at Turkish factoring company Strateji Faktoring for over 14 years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She also served on the board of Türkiye’s Association of Financial Institutions (Finhurk) between 2016 and 2019, and was a member of the FCI’s SCF and marketing committees.
As FCI’s secretary general, Kurtuluş will lead the secretariat and work with the executive committee, senior leadership team, regional directors and technical committees.
“FCI has been part of my professional life long before I joined the organisation, which makes taking on the role of secretary general particularly meaningful to me,” she said.
“I have known FCI as an industry professional, a committee member, a regional director and, more recently, as part of its leadership.
“My ambition is to protect what has made FCI strong for 58 years, while making sure we continue to move forward, remain relevant and create real value for our members and for the industry we serve,” Kurtuluş added.
FCI was founded in 1968 and is based in Amsterdam. It has more than 350 members in over 90 countries, and it claims its members’ transactions account for almost 60% of the world’s international correspondent factoring volume.
