ArmInfo.By April 1, 2020 the share of non-cash card transactions reached 30% of the total volume of plastic transactions in Armenia.
The y-o-y growth in the volume of non-cash card transactions accelerated from last year's 48.4% to the current 53.4%, in the Q1 of this year amounting to 176.6 billion drams. This is due to the significant intensification of Internet commerce, the popularization of mobile and web applications by banks and the Armenian Card, and such effective measures to encourage cashless transactions like CashBack. According to the Central Bank of Armenia, five years earlier (Q1 of 2015), the share of non-cash transactions in the total volume of plastic transactions amounted to 11%, and by April 1, 2019, it reached 24%.
At the same time, the total volume of plastic transactions accelerated y-o-y growth moderately from last year's 19.2% to the current 23%, in Q1 of this year amounting to 592.2 billion drams. The number of plastic by April 1, 2020 cards increased by 17.5% per annum - up to 2.5 million pcs, against an almost similar growth a year earlier (by 17.3%).
In the quarterly context (for the Q1 of 2020), the dynamics of the number of plastic cards records a slowdown from 4.7% to 2.9%, which was also observed a year earlier in the same period - from 5% to 3.5%. At the same time, the quarterly dynamics of the total volume of plastic transactions shows deterioration - from a 2.7% growth in Q4 of 2019 to 10.7% decline in the Q1 of 2020, which was also observed a year earlier with a more significant trend reversal - from 10% growth in the Q4 of 2018 to 14% decline in Q1 of 2019. The volume of non-cash card transactions also recorded a deterioration in quarterly dynamics - from 17.8% growth in the Q4 of 2019 to 6.1% decline in Q1 of 2020, which at a more modest pace was observed a year earlier - from 6.9% growth in the Q4 of 2018 to 0.5% decline in the Q1 of 2019
According to the source, the number of local ArCa cards accelerated y-o-y growth from 6.4% to 20.8%, reaching 760.6 thousand. The increase in the number of international MasterCards also accelerated from 7.6% to 10.9%, exceeding 614.2 thousand pcs, while the y-o-y growth in the number of Visa, on the contrary, slowed down from 37% to 19.5%, amounting to 1.04 million pcs. The dynamics of the number of other international cards (mainly HSBC cards, as well as AmEx and Diners Club) improved with the yield from the 3.2% decline to 11.6% growth, exceeding 48.3 thousand. According to the regulator, the acceleration in the rate of the total volume of plastic transactions was due to a significant acceleration in the growth of transactions for local ArCa - from 7.3% to 26.1% and international MasterCard - from 19.6% to 28.2%, as well as a reversal in transaction dynamics on other international cards from a 0.04% decline towards 13.6% growth. Against this background, Visa transactions have slowed y-o-y growth from 24.9% to 18.7%. Nevertheless, according to the results of the Q1 of 2020, Visa cards hold the lead in the volume of transactions - 279.97 billion drams, MasterCard in the second place - 189.5 billion drams, in the third place is ArCa - 114.3 billion drams, and the remaining 8.4 billion drams are transactions with other international cards (HSBC, AmEx, DC).
In the Armenian plastic market, Visa's share in the total number of cards for the Q1 of 2020 increased to 42.1% (versus 41.4% in the Q1 of 2019), MasterCard's share remained at 25%, ArCa's share increased to 30.9% ( versus 30.1% in the Q1 of 2019), and the remaining 2% (against 2.1% in the Q1 of 2019) retained other international cards (HSBC, AmEx, DC). Visa also holds the dominant share in the total volume of plastic transactions - 47.3% (versus 49% in the Q1 of 2019), MC is in the second place - 32% (against 30.7% in the 1Q1of 2019), ArCa is in the third place - 19.3% (versus 18.8% in the Q1 of 2019), and the remaining 1.4% (against 1.5% in the Q1 of 2019) are transactions with other international cards.
As of April 1, 2020, there were 11,613 POS-terminals in Armenia, of which 766 are located in the head offices and branches of banks. In annual terms, the total number of POS-terminals increased by 25% or 2319 pcs, compared to last year's growth of 17.1% or 1355 pcs. Moreover, only in the Q1 of 2020 the number of POS-terminals increased by 3.9% or 434 pcs. It is noteworthy that the number of POS-terminals in banks and their branches in annual terms increased by 1.6% or 12 pcs. (Only for the 1st quarter - by 0.8% or 6 pcs), while at the same time in the same period of 2019 an annual decline of 7% or 57 pcs was recorded. The number of retail and service points where ATMs or POS-terminals are installed, the Central Bank ceased to publish since 2015.
It should be noted that the Central Bank of Armenia is the majority shareholder of ArCa, then ACBA- Credit Agricole Bank, Armeconombank and Ardshinbank are the 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. -
