YEREVAN, February 21. /ARKA/. The number of payment cards in Armenia grew to 3.7 million in 2023, up 16.9% year-on-year, Chairman of the Union of Banks of Armenia (UBA) Daniel Azatyan told a press conference on Tuesday.

According to him, the growth was caused by the adoption of the law "On Non-Cash Transactions."

Visa cards accounted for 46.3% of the total, MasterCard cards accounted for 23.6%, ArCa cards for 23.4% and other international cards for 6.7% of the total number.

Azatyan said 393.1 million card transactions were made last year, a 96.7% increase compared to 2022, while the volume of transactions made in the reporting period amounted to AMD 6.7 trillion, up 40.5% year-on-year.

Some 338.8 million transactions were made with cards issued by Armenian banks in Armenia (104.1% growth compared to 2022), the volume of which amounted to AMD 5.6 trillion (41.5% growth).

In the reporting period, 24.2 million transactions were made with the cards of Armenian banks abroad (61.9% growth). Their volume amounted to 705 billion drams (54.6% growth).

In 2023, 30.1 million transactions were  made in Armenia using cards of foreign banks (67.6% growth). The volume of such transactions amounted to 375 billion drams (10.6% growth).

Azatyan also said that in 2023 the number of ATMs dropped by 4.2% to about 1.6 thousand, , while the number of POS terminals increased by 16.9% to 80.5 thousand. 

According to the law on non-cash transactions, the threshold for cash transactions made by individuals is AMD 300 thousand. Any transactions exceeding this amount must be made in a non-cash manner. This threshold is zero for budget payments and receipts, healthcare, education, legal services.

The law came into force throughout Armenia in 2024. ($1 - AMD 404.47) -0-.