Interview of the Chairman of “Anelik RU” LLC Board of Directors, Head of Anelik System Armen Kazaryan to Mediamax Agency and Banks.am portal

On October 7-10, Seventh International Open Banking Conference “Money Transfers. Retail Banking Services” will take place in Yerevan. Chairman of “Anelik RU” LLC, Head of Anelik System Armen Kazaryan told about the upcoming conference. 

- “Money Transfers. Retail Banking Services” conference has been held since 2004. What will make the upcoming conference in October in Yerevan different from the others? How representative will its competition be and what topics will be discussed at the conference?

- Believe that each year our event is different from the previous one, since the banking sector is an entire mobile world with all its twists and turns, difficulties, new tasks. Moreover, the past 2 years turned out to be, to put it mildly, hot, both for payment systems and for all banks of Russia and the CIS.

Concerning participants and the rapporteurs of the conference, these are always representatives of Central Banks of Russia, Armenia, heads of banking associations and top management of best banks of CIS and the Russian Federation. The main topics, which are put for discussion this year, are the innovative technologies, the opportunities for cooperation among banks, urgent problems and issues of the retail segment, as well as the main tendencies in the sphere of money transfers worldwide.

- One can assume that one of the burning topics of the conference will be the lessons that the crisis taught. Could you present the lessons money transfer systems in CIS countries learnt during the crisis, and in particular, the lessons that Anelik learnt?

- Undoubtedly, this is a burning issue. Concerning Anelik, N1 lesson is that one should always think about the customers, the latter’s opportunities and needs. We organized numerous campaigns, reduced tariffs, we did everything for people to be able to help relatives and friends in difficult times and sometimes even to the prejudice of themselves.

- While assessing the first year of joint work with Lebanese Credit Bank, Chairman of “Anelik Bank” Board of Directors Samvel Chzmachyan stated in an interview to our Agency that Credit Bank carries out quite serious work on spreading Anelik System in countries of the Middle East region. What are your forecasts concerning this? Can one expect abrupt growth of Anelik system volumes in the nearest prospect?

- This direction is the most important priority for the system in the coming year. I very much hope that the Middle East region will open for us great prospects as to growth of turnover and the new countries joining the system.

- At first glance, one gets the impression that the market of money transfers in Armenia is already oversaturated. Do you agree to this point of view and how would you describe competition in this segment of banking activity?

- The market is very oversaturated and the competition is severe. But, on the other hand, this very competition takes the money transfer systems to a new level. Of course, when we were just starting our activity, there was almost no competitor in the market, the system staked on transfers to Armenia. Today, we have 90 countries, to which we realize money transfers, and Armenia is only one among those countries.

- We would like to hear your assessment concerning the security level of financial transactions in the process of realizing money transfers.

- As of today, this is the most secure retail service. Technologies and software support have reached a very high level. Besides, as opposed, for instance, crediting, the service of financial transactions is not subject to such risks. The customer pays the commission fee, sends the money, receives it. The chain is very simple. It is reliable both for the customer and for the bank.

- According to you, how do the matters stand as to the quality of service of retail banking services in the post-Soviet area, and which is Armenia’s position as to this criterion?

- It depends on how one will assess it. Practically in all CIS countries, including in Armenia, there is a simple form of filling in the documents, there are facilitated requirements. Simply speaking, sending money takes less money and is not related to red tape. This is the advantage of the systems in the post-Soviet area. In the West, everything is more complicated, it is subject to strict limitations and customer control. Concerning the attitude towards the customer from the part of the system or the bank employee, just like in any other sphere of services, there are big problems here in the post-Soviet area. Armenia, by the way, is among the leaders as to the quality of money transfer services, as compared to many CIS countries.  

- Last year and the year before last, “Money Transfers. Retail Banking Services” conferences were held in Cyprus and in Egypt respectively. Why were these countries chosen?

- The reason was the crisis. The trip and participation in Armenia unfortunately cost more. We are always eager to hold events in the homeland, however hotels and air tickets costs one and a half times more expensive, than in Cyprus and in Egypt. We hope that this year, banks and payment systems have more opportunities and they will again visit Armenia, especially since the conference offers an excellent cultural program. By the way, there is a special offer for Armenian banks. People can learn the details of the offer by contacting the organizational committee of the conference.

Program of the conference, terms of participation and other information is available at www.conf.karmentur.ru and by +7(495) 988 44 01 telephone number.