YEREVAN, February 20. /ARKA/. Armenian ProCredit bank said it has introduced a single Utilities Payment system and all citizens living or working near a bank branch may drop in to pay their utilities.

It said the new service is available in all branches and no commission is charged. Payments may be made both in cash and by transfers from bank accounts.

ProCredit Bank said earlier this month its assets last year grew by 66%, credit portfolio grew to $32.4 million and the amount of individual deposits to $18.3 million. The bank said it has also 9,700 customers.

The shareholders of ProCredit Bank are ProCredit Holding AG, the majority shareholder, with a 66.66% stake; KfW, which holds 16.67% of the shares; and the EBRD, which holds 16.67% of the shares.

ProCredit Bank in Armenia is part of the ProCredit group, which consists of 22 financial institutions in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America.

According to ARKA’s data, at the end of 2009 ProCredit bank’s assets totaled 17 billion Drams, liabilities – 11.5 billion Drams, aggregate capital – 5.5 billion Drams, credit investments – 12.3 billion Drams, liabilities towards clients – 6.7 billion Drams. It earned 41.9 million drams in net profits last year. The bank has eight branches. ($1-378.52 Drams). -0