Yerevan /Mediamax/. 2.301.660 operations with plastic cards at the total sum of 106bln AMD were realized on the territory of Armenia in the first quarter, 2010.

Mediamax was informed in the press service of the Central Bank of Armenia that the volume of non-cash payments by cards made 7.6bln AMD.

The volume of non-cash payments by cards made 7% from the total volume of card operations. All in all, the volume of card operations increased by 16.5%, as compared to the first quarter, 2009.

The number of cards in circulation at the end of the first quarter, 2010, made 612.419, which exceeds the index of the previous quarter by 5.7% (32.988 cards).

As of the end of the first quarter, 2010, the number of active ArCa (Armenian Card) cards increased by 3.5% (9926 cards) as compared to the previous quarter, and made 292.090.

The number of international systems’ cards increased by 7.8% (23.062 cards) in the accounting period.

In this volume, the number of VISA cards increased by 4.3% (8647 cards) and made 210.236, and the number of Master Card increased by 25.8 % (15.769 cards) and made 76.877.

The total volume of card transactions increased by 25% in the first quarter, 2010, as compared to the same period of last year, and the number of deals – by 28%.

In the accounting period, 1.128.175 operations at the total sum of 43bln AMD were realized by means of ArCa cards. The volume of operations increased for 12bln AMD (or by 38%) as compared to the first quarter, 2009.

The volume of operations, realized by VISA cards in the first quarter, made 39bln AMD (689.353 operations), and by MasterCard cards – 14.6bln AMD (279.803 operations). As compared to the first quarter, 2009, these indices increased by 26.9% and 9,6%.respectively.

204.329 operations at the total sum of 9bln AMD were realized by other international cards in the first quarter, 2010, and this index exceeds by for 1.5bln AMD the analogous index of 2009.

At the end of the first quarter, 2010, 21 banks dealt with provision or maintenance of plastic cards in Armenia, 20 of which are members of the single ArCa payment system.