Active Use of Bank Cards Increased in Armenia

At a press conference with the President of the Union of Banks of Armenia, Mher Abrahamyan, the Executive Director Seyran Sargsyan stated today that the number of transactions made with bank cards in Armenia is on the rise.

The number of transactions has increased alongside their total volume. Currently, the number of transactions has reached nearly 35 percent, totaling 65 million. The overall volume stood at 2.3 trillion drams, which is a 21 percent increase. Thus, the average transaction amounted to 36 thousand drams. He noted that this data pertains only to cards issued in Armenia, and therefore does not reflect the spending of foreign tourists using external cards.

It should be noted that the main turnover of these transactions (almost three-quarters of the total amount) is attributed not to goods and services, but to cash withdrawals (people withdrawing salaries from their cards at the end or beginning of the month). “Yes, that is true, but not only. Because we see data on the balance amount on the cards. That is, people may not withdraw their entire salary, leaving some amount on the card for future expenditures,” added Sargsyan.

In absolute numbers, this trend is not substantial (cashless transactions are nearly three times lower than cash transactions), but the volumes of transactions have been growing quite rapidly. In 2019, they increased by one and a half times (52 percent) and reached 602 billion drams.

Spending via cards isn’t that high (in cafes and shops), but it sometimes constitutes a significant percentage. When the automobile purchasing boom started in Armenia in 2019, many purchased cars not only with cash but also with cards. This pertains not only to Armenian buyers but also to visitors from EAEU states, including those from Kazakhstan (who were frequently spotted in the Yerevan car market last year).