YEREVAN, October 31. /ARKA/. A major task for Armenia’s banking sector today is to intellectualize and modernize its products, Ardshinbank Board Chairman Mher Grigoryan stated in an exclusive interview to ARKA news agency. "If we do not do it in a timely manner, we can simply lose a huge potential for the development of our banking business," he said.

According to him, this is a challenge for the banks which run large branch networks, because to date, simple banking transactions and products are objectively developing towards remote communications. Grigoryan said mobile-banking and internet-banking are the products that redirect big businesses from the branch network to the Internet. And this is absolutely normal.

Speaking about the challenge the bank faces today, Grigoryan noted that "this is the types and content of products that we must continue to sell through the branch network."

"We do not strive to have as many branches as possible. Our goal is to have products that need to be sold through physical communications, because these products are very important for customers and very profitable for them," the banker said.

In this regard, he said, client groups are in great need of financial advice, because the financial adviser can and should correctly orient the client, give professional advice.

"In principle, in addition to simple banking transactions, I believe that in all other banking products, including retail, start-up business, and corporate business, the question of communications and the question of consulting services remains relevant. I would even say that our challenge is how we can and should be able to transform ourselves in order to be able to develop a full-fledged business as a universal, not a niche bank," the banker said.

The head of Ardshinbank specified that that although a niche bank is rational, this is not the best model of banking activity, because today the most important is cross-selling and cross-effects from servicing various client groups both in retail and in corporate business. -0-