YEREVAN, February 21. /ARKA/. Diners Club International, one of the world’s leading payment systems, will enter the Armenian market within the next two months, said Ashot Osipyan, the Union of Banks of Armenia (UBA) chairman, on Tuesday.

“Today we have MasterCard, Visa, American Express payment systems in Armenia, and in two months we will also have Diners Club International,” he said.

Diners Club company was founded in 1950 and issued the first multi-purpose charge cards in the world. Diners Club operates in over 185 countries around the globe through nearly 675 thousand ATMs and cashing points.

Osipyan also said that the number of non-cash payments increases as the credit -card business model expands in Armenia.

According to UBA the credit-card business model hit nearly 30% growth in 2011 in Armenia, 781 thousand cards were issued. The number of POS terminals increased by 39%. Today there are 4,788 POS terminals and 846 ATMs in Armenia.

“It should be said that our credit-card market began to develop since 2000 as ArCa processing center was set up. We aimed for shifting from cash payments to non-cash transactions, and we are doing all the necessary things for creating an appropriate infrastructure,” he pointed out. Osipyan added that 19 out of 21 Armenian banks issue cards and the market is filled with the various card programs, including bonus cards.The UBA chairman also said that ArCa local payment system was set for reformation last year, and by the end of 2012 the software of the center will have been updated. This will allow to improve the quality of the services.

Armenian Card CJSC was established on March 16, 2000 as a national system for payments made by plastic cards. Today 19 of Armenia’s 21 commercial banks in different terms use ArCa payment system. There are various ArCa-based products – ArCa Debit, ArCa Classic, ArCa Gold, ArCa Business, ArCa Affinity, ArCa Co-branded, ArCa Platinum as well as ArCa pension cards. The company is a full member of MasterCard Europe international system. It also processes VISA and American Express (Third Party Processor) cards. ($1 – 388,99 drams).-0-