Central Bank Directive: Armenian Banks Reject Money Transfers Abroad, Says Jzmazyan

Armenian banks do not face issues with international currency systems. Samvel Jzmazyan, Vice President of the Eurasian Banking Association, stated in an interview with Sputnik Armenia, commenting on the recent reports that Armenian banks are rejecting money transfers abroad.

"It is not the case that they are completely stopping transfers en masse," said Jzmazyan. Recently, there has been an increase in alerts on social media regarding Armenian banks rejecting money transfers abroad.

In an interview with the media, Jzmazyan shared that he too had faced such an issue recently, but it was exclusively related to card-to-card transfers. He noted, "All types of transfers go through except for card-to-card transfers when I try to make a transfer from my card through Mobile banking to another person's card. When I called the bank, they told me to make the transfer from my current account, and it worked out."

Jzmazyan also sought to clarify what was causing the issue. The bank explained that they were unaware but had received such a directive from the Central Bank. "I was told that a directive had arrived from the Central Bank to temporarily suspend card-to-card transfers in dollars and euros. I believe this is probably a technical issue, or I would like it to be that way," he said.

When asked how the Central Bank's directive might be related to Western restrictions on Russia and the caution surrounding these matters, Jzmazyan responded that Armenian banks are quite cautious in this regard. "Representatives from the EU, various EU member states, and the USA are conducting studies in the Armenian market. These studies have always shown that our banks operate within norms. I even believe they operate with more caution than necessary. But this is how our banks function," Jzmazyan stated.

It is noteworthy that EU Special Representative for Sanctions David O'Sullivan mentioned that the European Union is monitoring the increase in exports from Russia to other countries, including Armenia, due to concerns that Russia may be bypassing Western-imposed sanctions through these countries.