Akbank | 322,701 followers on LinkedIn. Akbank was founded as a local bank in Adana in January 1948. Established originally with the core objective to provide funding to local cotton producers, the Bank opened its first branch in the Sirkeci district of Istanbul on July 14, 1950. In 1954, after relocating its Head Office to Istanbul, the Bank rapidly expanded its branch network and had automated all banking operations by 1963.