Interview of the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Prometey Bank, Karen Yeghiazaryan, to Mediamax and Banks.am portal

- From now on, Prometey Bank has joined UNIStream system. It was somewhat unexpected. It seemed that working with only one partner in Armenia during all these years, UNIStream won’t expand its service network. We would like to hear your comments in this regard.

- UNIStream is one of the most popular money transfer system in Armenia. According to published data, the system’s turnover in Armenia in 2010 made approximately $600 million. During January-October 2011, the turnover of UNIStream has already exceeded $540 million.

Naturally, Prometey Bank has always been willing to join the system, and we are glad that the management of the Russian “Unistream” Bank, the operator of UNIStream, has approved the membership request of Prometey Bank.

I think here, just like in any other sphere, the clients using the service will only benefit from the competition.

- Joining the system must have required huge work and relevant investments. What can you say about it?

- Prometey Bank received consent to join the system several months ago. It took time and some work to settle the technical issues, after which, starting from December 2, the system began to operate in the head office and in all the branches of the bank.

As far as all the territorial branches of the bank are equipped with modern computer equipment, the process of joining UNIStream did not require additional investments.

- Is it profitable for the bank to serve international money transfers and what do you expect from the cooperation with UNIStream?

- The system of non-commercial transfers of individuals is an important component in the assortment of bank’s common services because of the large volume of these transfers.

Taking into consideration the fact that in 2010, the volume of non-commercial remittances received through Armenian banks by individuals from abroad and sent from Armenia abroad made $1.293,7 million and $221,8 million correspondingly, and in January-October 2011 - $1.238,0 million and $214,9 million correspondingly, one can imagine the importance the bank attaches to a part of these streams flowing through its own territorial branches.

The cooperation of the bank with UNIStream should be also viewed in this context, as a large share in the total volume of remittances belongs to UNIStream. The results the bank registered during 10 days after joining UNIStream are encouraging. Today, the bank cooperates with 6 money transfer systems: UNIStream, MoneyGram, Migom, Anelik, Contact and Bistraya Pochta. Combination of all these systems allows the bank to expect its proper presence in  money transfer market.

- In fall 2011, on the occasion of the bank’s 21st anniversary, Prometey Bank summoned a round table with the participation of corporate clients, during which the bank’s service quality was highly appraised. How are you going to preserve this level in the retail service, first of all in terms of servicing the clients of UNIStream?

- It’s nice that the bank’s corporate clients, who have a long history of service in the banking sphere and a possibility to compare, highlight the bank’s high service quality. We carry out a consistent and continuous work aimed at the improvement of clients’ service quality also in terms of retail services.

The bank is planning to widely use all the features of UNIStream. Jointly with UNIStream, the bank is going to offer its clients co-branding cards shortly. By the requests of clients, the money they receive will be transferred to these cards. They will also have the chance to receive money from Russia in national currency at lowest possible commission rates.