Friday, August 19 2011 17:11
Armenian banks increase issue of plastic cards by 20,4% by August
Arminfo. In July 2011 Armenian commercial banks emitted 20417 cards which is by 20,4% more than in July 2010. The number of the active cards at the end of July amounted to 656.5 thsd units, whereas in July 2010 it was 512.9 thsd units (growth by 28%).
As Armenian Card reported, the banks issued 9176 ArCa cards in July (growth by 96,4% versus July 2010), MasterCard - 6154 (growth by 33,2%) and Visa cards - 5087 units (growth by 33,6%).
MasterCard is the leader in the structure of the active plastic cards, it grew by 52,8% in July 2011 versus July 2010 - up to 130,8 thsd units. Then comes Visa card - by 41,1% - up to 184.3 thsd units and ArCa cards - by 15,1% - up to 341.4 thsd units.
In July 2011 operations were implemented using on average 428 thsd cards or 65% out of the total number of the active cards (growth by 25,8% versus July 2010). As of 1 August 2011, the number of the POS-terminals in the trade/service points and cash delivery points in the Armenian Card system amounted to 3607 (growth by 43,7% versus July 2010). As of 1 August 2011, 757 ATMs have been acting in Armenia, their number grew by 20% versus the same period of 2010.