YEREVAN, June 26. / ARKA /. Araratbank is planning to open the first in Armenia so-called ‘financial supermarket,’ its board chairman Ashot Osipyan said Friday when addressing the bank’s annual meeting.

According to investopedia.com, financial supermarket is an institution or company that offers a wide range of financial services under one roof. Financial supermarkets provide services which typically include banking, stock brokerage and insurance, and occasionally real-estate brokerage. The basic rationale behind the financial supermarket concept is to generate more fees per client and foster customer loyalty.

Osipyan said Araratbank’s financial supermarkets will offer its customers all the product and
services available in the local financial market.

‘We have started a pilot program in one of our branches and will expand it to those branches, which by their geographical location are suitable for transformation into a financial supermarket,’  he said.
Osipyan said also the 50th branch of the bank opened in Avan-Arinj administrative district of Yerevan recently and in a month a new branch will open in the town of Charentsavan and two more will open later this year.

He also said in a month Araratbank will start the implementation of a strategic program called Future Banking, designed to improve the services to customers through the use of new technologies.
"The Bank is also planning to strengthen the Internet banking service, introduce a new service called ‘Tsankatsats’ (any), which enables customers to manage their bank accounts through their smartphones at any time and from any location.

"The bank also plans to open an electronic branch with automated services and no staff at all,’ he said.
Araratbank was established in 1996. The biggest shareholder of the bank is the oil trader company Flash (64.24%), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) holds 25% and another 10% is owned by RURAL IMPULSE FUND II SA SICAV SIF company. Araratbank joined NASDAQ OMX Armenia stock exchange in 2009.

The bank's assets in 2014 increased by 10.48% to 138.36 billion drams, its liabilities amounted to 116.69 billion drams having grown by 10.5%, the bank’s capital saw an increase of 10.3% to 21.6 billion drams, its credit investments grew by 10.6% to  65.9 billion drams, while its net profit declined by 6.6% to  2.8 billion drams. -0-