The number of Visa cards will soon reach 1 mln in the plastic market  of Armenia

ArmInfo. In Armenia, the number of plastic cards increased by January 1, 2020 by 18.1% per annum - up to 2.4 million units, against almost similar growth a year  earlier (by 18%). And the total volume of plastic transactions slowed  down the growth from 22.6% in 2018 to 21.3% in 2019, exceeding 2.3  trillion AMD. This is evidenced by the data of the Central Bank of  Armenia.

In the quarterly terms (Q4 2019), the dynamics of the number of  plastic cards records an acceleration of growth from 4.5% to 4.7%,  which was also observed a year earlier in the same period - from 4.1%  to 5%.  At the same time, the quarterly dynamics of the volume of  plastic transactions shows a deterioration - from 12.5% growth in Q3  towards 0.4% decline in Q4, while a year earlier growth was recorded  with a slowdown from 10.9% to 10%.

According to the source, the number of local ArCa cards accelerated  y-o-y growth to 19.8%, reaching 753.5 thousand. And the increase in  the number of international Visa and MasterCard, on the contrary,  slowed down to 23.7% and 8.4%, respectively, amounting to 997.5  thousand and 591.5 thousand units. The dynamics of the number of  other international cards (mainly HSBC cards, as well as AmEx and  Diners Club) improved with a 11.4% increase from the recession,  amounting to 47.975 thousand. A year earlier, in 2018 the number of  ArCa grew by 11%, Visa - by 32.5%, MasterCard - by 10.5%, while other  international cards fell by 5.4%.

According to the regulator, the high rate of the total volume of  plastic transactions was due to a sharp acceleration in the growth of  other international cards from 37% to 3-fold and a significant  acceleration in the growth of local ArCa - from 9.5% to 16.6%, and at  the same time, there was a slowdown in transaction growth by Visa  cards - from 24.6% to 14.4% and MasterCard - from 28.7% to 26%. Visa  cards hold the lead in the volume of transactions - 1.1 trillion  drams for 2019, MasterCard is the second - 733.2 billion drams, ArCa  is the third - 452.7 billion drams, and the remaining 91.9 billion  drams are transactions with other international cards (HSBC, AmEx,  DC) .

In the total volume of plastic transactions, the share of non-cash  transactions increased over the recent five years from 10.4% to 25%  (compared to 2014), exceeding 602 billion drams at the end of 2019,  due to a significant increase in online commerce, popularization by  banks and the Armenian Card of mobile and web applications, and such  effective measures to encourage cashless transactions like CashBack.  The annual growth in the volume of non-cash plastic transactions is  high with an acceleration of rates from 47.2% in 2018 to 52% in 2019.  The quarterly dynamics (for the 4th quarter of 2019) of this  indicator also shows an acceleration of growth from 14.9% to 17.8%,  while a year earlier the upward trend recorded a slowdown - from  14.3% to 6.9% in Q4, 2018.

In the Armenian plastic market, Visa's share in the total number of  cards in 2019 increased from 39.8% to 41.7%, ArCa - from 31.1% to  31.5%, while MasterCard's share fell from 27% to 24,7%, and the  remaining 2% (versus 2.1% in 2018) are other international cards  (HSBC, AmEx, DC). Visa also holds the dominant share in the total  volume of plastic transactions - 45.5% (against 48.2% in 2018), in  second place MC - 31.3% (against 30.1% in 2018), in third ArCa - 19,  3% (against 20.1% in 2018), and the remaining 3.9% (against 1.6% in  2018) are transactions on other international cards.

As of January 1, 2020, there were 10,503 POS-terminals in Armenia, of  which 692 are located in the head offices and branches of banks. In  2019, the total number of POS-terminals increased by 19.4% or 1707  units, against an increase of 20.4% or 1493 units in 2018. Moreover,  in Q4 2019 the number of POS- terminals increased by 2.1% or 220  units. There were 1,400 ATMs as of the indicated period with an  annual reduction of 6.8% or 102 units, against an increase of 3.6% or  52 units in 2018, and in Q4 alone the number of ATMs decreased by  7.8% or by 118 units. It is noteworthy that in 2019 the number of POS  terminals in banks and their branches decreased by 11.6% or by 91  units, and in Q4 - by 8.6% or 65 units, while in 2018 the annual  dynamics was ascending - 10.1% or 72 pcs with a downward quarterly  trend of 2% or 16 pcs. The number of trade / service points where  ATMs or POS-terminals are installed has ceased to be published by the  Central Bank since 2015.

It should be noted that the Central Bank of Armenia is the majority  shareholder of ArCa, followed by ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank,  Armeconombank and Ardshinbank major shareholders of the organization,  and the remaining 14 banks each hold 2% of the shares. Through their  own processing, HSBC Bank Armenia and VTB Bank (Armenia) work on the  card market. All 17 banks of Armenia operate on the card market,  taking into account Armswissbank, which began issuing cards only in  March 2018.