ArmInfo.The growing demand for digital services by tens of thousands of resettlers has seriously motivated the banking market of Armenia to activate the digital transformation of business models, accelerating the technological development of the card segment towards the introduction of the latest payment instruments. This is stated in the latest (#27) analytical bulletin of ArmInfo "Armenian banks in the card business" published recently.
According to the agency's analysts, the main and most important technological innovation of the past year may be considered the connection of a number of large and medium-sized banks to Apple Pay (since January 18, 2022) and Google Pay (since November 15, 2022) payment services, which became possible thanks to the serious preparatory work of the operator of the National Armenian Card payment system, which managed to provide the necessary legal and technological base and security certification in advance. This allowed banks to immediately attract a modern and solvent sector, and primarily from among those moving from Russia, where these payment systems were introduced back in 2017 and existed before the imposition of sanctions.
In parallel, banks have been offering innovative payment solutions such as Virtual and Digital cards, while accelerating the launch of virtual and mobile post-terminals (vPOS and mPOS).
After analyzing the technological innovations of the country's banking system, ArmInfo analysts came to the conclusion that 6 banks are the main engines of innovation in the market: ACBA Bank, VTB Bank (Armenia), IDBank, Ardshinbank, Ameriabank and Converse Bank.
According to experts, the prospects for the development of the bank card market, as well as the entire ecosystem of non-cash payments in Armenia, are very optimistic. They will continue to be supported by increased domestic and foreign demand. This demand is also supported by a significant growth in private transfers, unprecedented in the entire history of the banking system of independent Armenia (external factor), as well as the entry into force of a law seriously restricting cash transactions (internal factor).
In the total volume of "plastic" transactions, which exceeded 4.7 trillion drams 40.8% or $12.1 billion (including foreign transactions), a large share so far traditionally falls on cash withdrawals - 59.2% or 2.8 trillion drams ($7.1 billion), and 40.8% or 1.9 trillion drams ($4.9 billion) - on non-cash transactions, including internet transactions.
According to the Central Bank of Armenia, by April 1, 2023, the total number of plastic cards issued in the country reached 3.4 million, with a noticeable acceleration in y-o-y growth from 7.2% to 23.2%. By April 1, 2023, there were 1,620 ATMs and 77,932 POS-terminals on the market (including vPOS), moreover the number of the latter increased 3.7-fold.
