Thursday, June 10 2010 19:03
“Areximbank-Gazprombank Group” is enlarging its plastic card business
ArmInfo. For two years already “Areximbank-Gazprombank Group” has provided payment services by means of “Gazprombank”’s “GazCardService” processing center. During this period the bank has not only substantially increased the number of its existing cards and the amount of relevant transactions but has also appeared with new original card products. And this is not all. By 2012 the bank is going to expand its presence on the plastic card market. Deputy Director General of “Areximbank-Gazprombank Group” CJSC Ruben Khachatryan has given the details in his interview to ArmInfo.
Mr. Khachatryan, how many plastic cards have you issued this year as compared with the last year?
We continue giving high priority to plastic card services. In Jan-May 2010, as compared with Jan-May 2009, the number of issued cards grew by 30% to 64,011, of which 58,176 were Visas and the rest – MasterCards. As of June 1 2010 there were 19,428 active cards – 3,000 more than on June 1 2009. The key reason why our Visas prevail over MasterCards is that we joined Visa International in 2002 while MasterCard 4 years later - in 2006. We are full members of both systems, i.e. we continue issuing and servicing both types of cards. In Jan-May 2010, as compared with Jan-May 2009, the amount of card transactions grew by 47% to 9.7bln AMD. We are also members of the local ArCa system. In Jan-May 2010 the amount of ArCa bancomat and POS terminal transactions totaled 224mln AMD against just 15mln AMD a year before.
For the moment, we have 43 operating bancomats. 29 of them are located in Yerevan, the rest – all over Armenia. We have 78 POS terminals, servicing both Visa and MasterCard chip cards.
Your bank has worked out a strategy for its development till 2012. What place does the payment segment have therein?
Plastic cards are one of our key business priorities and have a big place in our development strategy. By 2012 we are planning to expand our presence on the plastic card market and are already working towards this end. This year we are planning to issue almost 12,500 cards. Some of them have already been issued due also to a big salary project with the “Rusal-Armenal” foil mill. By 2012 we expect to have, at least, 40,000 active plastic cards. In the near future we are planning to introduce our own local card. As you may know, since Dec 2009 we have been the financial agent of a new bonus program “Nur” - under this program we offered special prizes to “Nur” card holders against accumulated transaction bonuses. In the next few weeks “Nur” will be replaced by a new plastic card to be issued by our bank and to be used for paying bills in all bancomats and trade/service outlets involved in the program. At the initial stage, we are planning to issue 1,000 cards.
We expect that by 2012 the amount of our card transactions inside and outside Armenia will increase to 32bln AMD.
According to our development strategy, in 2012 we will have 250 POS terminals and 60 bancomats with 5 new ones to be launched this month.
Are you planning to launch cash-in bancomats?
We have no such plans for the time being. Today, our market is passively reacting to such bancomats due to certain banknote-related risks.
What are the results of your bank’s cooperation with “GazCardService” processing center? Recently, the Armenian banks have seemed to be gradually departing from the ArCa interface. What do you think about this tendency?
I think that the idea to create an ArCa system was quite right and timely. I can’t say what other banks are planning to do. For the time being, the ArCa processing center is the most optimal scenario for our banks as their present card operations are not enough for covering the expenses they will have to take to create and operate own processing facilities. In 2004 we had a certified processing center and are well aware of all the advantages and disadvantages of own processing. Of course, own processing gives one a number of privileges, like, high efficiency and quality. We joined “GazCardService” in Sept 2008 and, since then, have appeared with a number of joint projects. In 2009 we launched “Telecard” service for mobile phones allowing card holders to control their cards by means of SMS. Since Apr 2010 all those wishing to get our card can order it by the internet from our web-site. This helps us to enhance the efficiency of the card issuance procedure.
We have also launched a service allowing transferring money from card to card via bancomat. By the end of this year our card holders will be able to transfer money to Gazprombank cards and will, in fact, no longer need to use money transfer systems.
Speaking of money transfers, what is the dynamics of your current money transfer activity and what forecasts do you have for 2012?
In the last 1-1.5 years our money transfer activity declined by 35%-40% because of the crisis. This year we are reviving. As of today, we cooperate with Contact, Leader, Bistraya Pochta and MoneyGram and are planning to join two more systems, particularly, Migom. By the end of this year the amount of individual money transfers is expected to total 29bln AMD, by the end of 2011 – 40bln AMD.
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