By beginning of tourism season Areximbank-Gazprombank Group offers significant discounts of premium class chip cards

ArmInfo. By the beginning of the tourism season, Areximbank- Gazprombank Group offers significant discounts of premium class chip cards. The Bank has told ArmInfo that from June 27 till September 30 all Areximbank-GPB Group customers, who acquire insurance policies to leave abroad, will be offered premium class chip cards - MasterCard Gold  and VISA Gold - with a 50% discount in the currency indicated by the customers (USD, EUR, RUR, AMD). 

The source says that when paying for shopping at various trade outlets of Armenia, the holders of MasterCard Maestro, MasterCard Standards, MasterCard Gold (for customers using POS-terminals and e- commerce), 1% cash-back is provided to the customers.       

According to the Analytical Review "Armenian Banks in Card Business" by the Agency of Rating Marketing Information (ArmInfo), as of 1 April 2016, Areximbank-GPB Group has nearly 32 thsd active cards, including about 61% Visa cards and over 39% MasterCards. The Bank holds the 9th position in terms of the number Visa cards, and the 11th position in terms of MasterCards. The number of MasterCards dropped by 1.5%, while the number of Visa cards grew by 0.5%. At the yearend of 2015, the amount of transactions with plastic cards totaled 54 bln AMD (11th position). 65% of this amount, or 35 bln AMD (10th position) fell on ATM transactions (6.2% year-over-year growth). By the number of its own POS- terminals and ATMs, the Bank holds the 10th position - 286 and 81, respectively. The Bank issues and serves local ArCa cards along with international Visa and MasterCards. Areximbank-GPB Group was the first in Armenia to become a principal member of Visa by issuing the first Visa cards and launching the first e-commerce project. 

To note, in November 2007 Gazprombank OJSC acquired 80% of Areximbank's shares (the latter was founded in 1998). In July 2008, Gazprombank's stake grew to 94.15%, and in September 2008 the Bank bought the remaining 5.85% stake from Raiffeisen Bank and became the sole owner of Areximbank-GPB Group.