YEREVAN, December 3. / ARKA /. VTB Bank (Armenia) said today it remains the leading bank in the country by the number of issued payment cards, which have grown this year by 20 percent to 368,000.

According to the Russian-owned bank, it runs 157 ATMs across the country which its customers use to make a variety of operations - cash withdrawals, utility bills payment and instant money transfers from its Visa cards to any other Visa cards issued by local or foreign banks.

Last month VTB Bank (Armenia) and ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK, two Armenian banks with the largest chains of ATMs signed an agreement enabling their cardholders to use partner bank’s ATMs without having to pay extra commission.

According to the bank’s press release, holders of payments cards have been increasingly using them this year to pay for goods and services instead of cash withdrawals. Thus, the amount of cashless payments made by using the cards soared by 20 percent in the third quarter of 2014 from the year before and the number non-cash transactions increased by 50% compared to the same period 2013.

In a bid to encourage cashless payments the Bank organizes various campaigns and raffles for its customers such as summer holidays in Malta for two and giving away a car to winners.
Ahead of New Year the Bank is planning to announce another special offer to stimulate cashless transactions.

VTB Bank (Armenia) is owned fully by Russian VTB Bank. It runs 67 branches in Armenia, more than any other local bank. The bank's liabilities as of October 1, 2014 stood at 260.8 billion drams and its capital – at about 45.6 billion drams. In the third quarter it earned 870.8 million drams in net profit, by 78% less from the year before. ($1- 442.33 drams).-0-