Tuesday, June 7 2011 16:21
Areximbank-Gazprombank Group starts issuing chop cards
ArmInfo. By the end of this year Areximbank-Gazprombank Group will start issuing chip cards, Ruben Khachatryan, deputy director general of the bank, said in an interview to ArmInfo.
He said that for the moment the bank has 25,000 active cards and is planning to issue 30% more by the end of this year. Presently the bank is undergoing certification at Visa International and MasterCard.
"Chip cards are safe. In the last years the card business in Armenia has significantly grown with non-cash transactions having become a must for the local population. I think that the Government's decision to switch to non-cash transactions for the population was quite appropriate," Khchatryan said.
In 2010 the amount of Areximbank-Gazprombank Group's card transactions grew by 100% to 40bln AMD while that of ATM transactions by 50%. In Q1 2011 the former index totalled 9.3bln AMD against 7.96bln AMD in Q1 2010, the latter one - 4.8bln AMD against 3.8bln AMD. In Q1 2011 the number of active cards grew by 24-25%.