Non-cash card transactions in Armenia  surpass cash ones

ArmInfo. In the plastic card market of Armenia, cashless transactions established themselves as the dominant force in 2024, accounting for 52.3% of the total volume (compared to 51% in 2023 and 40% in 2022), totaling 3.6 trillion drams ($9.1 billion) in absolute terms. This is evidenced by data from the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia.

This result was achieved despite a significant decrease in the annual growth rate of  non-cash card payments from 200% to 13%, This slowdown can be  attributed to the market returning to a more natural growth range,  after a jump caused by the launch of legislative restrictions on cash  transactions  starting on July 1, 2022.

 It is worth noting that in non-cash transactions, the share of  transactions carried out through virtual vPOS increased in 2024 from  54.5% to 59%, amounting to 2.1 trillion drams ($5.4 billion) with a  slowdown in the growth rate of the volume from 85% to 17%. In the  total volume of plastic transactions, the share of transactions  through vPOS also increased - from 28% in 2023 to 31% in 2024. The  slowdown in the growth of non-cash transactions affected the growth  rate of the total volume of plastic transactions, slowing them down  from 43.2% to 9.2%, resulting in 6.9 trillion drams or $17.4 billion  (including transactions abroad with cards of Armenian issuing banks)  by the end of 2024. Moreover, the volume of transactions abroad with  cards of Armenian issuing banks continued to lose growth - this time  from 54.3% to 13.7%, amounting to 801.2 billion drams ($2 billion) by  the end of 2024, thereby taking a share of 11.6% in total plastic  transactions (versus 11.1% in 2023).

International cards showed the highest growth rates of plastic  transactions. Visa cards hold the lead in transaction volume - 4.2  trillion drams for 2024, with a significant slowdown in annual growth  from 76% to 17%. Masteráard cards took second place - 1.7 trillion  drams, with a sharp slowdown in annual growth from 54.5% to 5%. Local  ArCa cards are in fourth place - 777.4 billion drams, with a reversal  in annual dynamics from 23.7% growth to a 9% decline. And other  foreign cards (HSBC cards, AmEx, Diners Club, MIR, UPI) are in fifth  place - 239.7 billion drams, with a sharp slowdown in growth rates  from 86.1% to 27%. 

The decrease was mainly caused by a significant reduction in  transactions on MIR cards (by 2.3 times) and, to a lesser extent, by  the exit of HSBC Bank Armenia (through a merger with Ardshinbank),  which issued HSBC cards, from the Armenian market on November 29. In  particular, such a significant drop in transactions on MIR cards was  due to the inclusion of NSPK MIR in the sanctions list in February  2024 and the subsequent suspension of the connection of the ArCa and  MIR national card systems in March. In this regard, Armenian banks  stopped servicing MIR cards in April 2024, and only VTB Bank  (Armenia), which became the issuer of these cards in July 2022 and  managed to issue 197.3 thousand units by October 2024, continued to  service them in its networks of ATMs and POS.

In terms of market share in the total volume of plastic transactions,  Visa cards are leading - 60.5% (compared to 57% in 2023), Masteráard  is in second place - 24.7% (compared to 26.5% in 2023), ArCa is in  third place - 11.3% (compare to 13.5% in 2023), and the remaining  3.5% (compared to 3% in 2023) are transactions using other foreign  cards. In 2023, the share of transactions using MIR cards was 74%,  then by 2024 their share decreased to 26%, making op only  1% of the  total volume of plastic transactions (compared to 2.2% in 2023).   Visa cards also hold the lead in the total number of bank cards -  51.3%, followed by Mastercard - 22.6% and ArCa - 18.8%, and the  remaining 7.3% are other foreign cards (HSBC cards, AmEx, Diners  Club, MIR, UPI). In terms of annual growth in the number of cards,  the highest rate was shown in the reporting year by international  Visa cards - 29% and other foreign cards - 26%.  The growth of  Mastercard cards was 12%, while the dynamics of local ArCa cards  worsened from double-digit growth to a 6.5% decline. By 2025 there  were over 4.328 million cards, with an annual growth of 16.3%  (compared to 17% growth in 2023). 

According to the latest issue #30 of the analytical review "Armenian  Banks in the Card Business", prepared by ArmInfo Investment Company,  transaction activity (activity coefficient by transaction volume)  slowed down in annual growth from 17.4% to 2.4%, amounting to 0.166.  This means that the average monthly transaction volume per card is  166 thousand drams or $451. According to ArmInfo financial analysts,  the Armenian card market, which has experienced a significant growth  in the past 2 years, partly due to the law on non-cash payments  adopted in 2022, is now entering a new period of its qualitative  growth amidst intense competition. The market is seeing an increase  in  non-cash payments and online transactions, which in 2023, for the  first time,  exceeded  cash transactions in both  quantity and  volume, a trend that has continued in 2024.

The market is experiencing both quantitative growth and  qualitative,  innovative development. The number of new generation ATMs,  specifically contactless ones,  is growing. The  post-terminal  network is expanding due to a significant increase in  virtual and  mobile post-terminals (vPOS and mPOS).  Technological advancements in  the card segment, particularly  in e-commerce and contactless cards,  are ongoing. Banks are  actively offering Apple Pay and Google Pay  applications for Visa and MasterCard certified by the Armenian Card  National Payment System for contactless payments. The launch of the  ArCaPay system in November 2024 made the same technological  capabilities  available for local ArCa cards.

Let us remind you that all 17 banks operating in the country are  active in the plastic market of Armenia.  Among them is a relatively  new participant - Fast Bank, which issues both local ArCa cards and  international Visa and Mastercard.