YEREVAN, July 8, /ARKA/. All types of plastic cards were used in Armenia to make 315.4 billion drams worth transactions in the first quarter of 2016, the Central Bank reported today adding also that the amount represented a 5.3% rise when compared with the same period of 2015. It also said the number of transactions in the reporting period grew by 9.6% year-on-year to 7,183,475.

Local ArCa cards were used to make a total of 1,860,094 transactions worth 76.7 billion drams, a 2.1% rise from the year before.

International VISA plastic cards were used to make 3,237,697 transactions worth 147.8 billion drams. Compared with the same period last year the amount was higher by 3.7%, the Central Bank said.

Also international MasterCard plastic cards were used to make 1,721,629 transactions worth 70 billion drams, a year-on-year increase of 10.5%.

The amount of transactions made by using other international plastic was said to have grown by 13% to 20.7 billion drams (364,055 transactions).

According to the Central Bank, at the end of the reporting period, the total number of cards in circulation stood at 1,741,170 (an increase of 8%). Of them 546,885 were ArCa cards (up 1.8%), 787,319 were VISA cards (an increase of 6.2%), 361,838 were MasterCard cards (24.4%) and 45,668 were other cards (an increase of 4.5%).

Of 20 local commercial banks 19 issued and serviced plastic cards. All are members of the local single payment system ArCa. ($ 1 - 476.93 drams). 0-