YEREVAN, February 23. /ARKA/. Since July 1, 2022,  senior citizens in Armenia used their pension cards to make more than 12 billion drams worth noncash transactions  and were refunded 1 billion 29 million drams under a government-designed  cash-back scheme, Labor and Social Affairs Minister Narek Mkrtchyan said at a government meeting Thursday.

He noted that there was a slight increase in volumes in January because payments rose in December due to New Year's shopping.

"We expect the figures to increase in February, taking into account the fact that the scheme is now also available in villages with a population over 1,000 people," he said.

According to the minister, the average monthly cashback is 3.2 thousand drams.

The government-designed scheme enabling pensioners and socially disadvantaged families receiving benefits to get 10% cashback (no more than 5,000 drams a month) for making cashless transactions by using their cards was launched July 1, 2022.  . ($1 - 390.48 AMD). --0—