Tuesday, October 21 2014

 VTB Bank (Armenia) and Visa have announced the winners of their Summer with VTB campaign on 21 October. One of the Bank's most active Visa cardholders, Gayane Babayan, who was selected on a random basis - through drawing - won a vacation package to Malta for two persons.  The campaign was announced for the holders of VTB Bank (Armenia)-issued Visa cards from 20 July to 30 September 2014.  The goal of the campaign is to promote the noncash payments with Visa cards.   

100 customers of VTB Bank (Armenia), who obtained the highest number of bonus points, automatically participated in the drawing of 100 prizes from VTB Bank (Armenia) and Visa, including 50 certificates for acquisition of electric appliances and 50 certificates for a -1% credit and for a +1% deposit.  

The source says that all Visa cardholders of VTB Bank (Armenia), who pay for shopping and services with VTB's Visa cards at any trade outlet in Armenia and abroad and automatically obtained bonus points over the period of the campaign.     

The Visa cardholders received 2 bonus points for each 1000 AMD spent for paying for the goods or services at the Bank's outlets. The cardholders received 1 bonus point when paying at the outlets of other banks in Armenia and abroad. The cardholders could receive no more than 50 bonus points for one transaction. The bonus points covered all payments with Visa cards in Armenia and abroad (except for the utility payments and payments for other services through the ATMs).

'The growing number and turnover of transactions with Visa cards at trading points demonstrate that VTB Bank (Armenia) customers prefer non-cash payments with Visa cards when making everyday purchases.  Furthermore, the Bank's marketing campaigns that pursue promotion on non-cash payments are quite effective and make such transactions more popular. In particular, the marketing campaigns Summer with VTB and Winter with VTB have proved successful for many times and have become permanent 'companions' for the Bank's customers in summers and winters,> Irina Kamkhadze, Regional Country Manager, Caucasus Countries at Visa, told reporters. She said such campaigns help people transfer from cash payments to non-cash payments and make them accessible to broader sections of the population. 

Artak Khachatryan, Head of the Retail Development Department of VTB Bank (Armenia), pointed out that during the campaign the number of noncash operations with Visa cards of VTB Bank grew by 50%, and the turnover with the Visa cards of VTB Bank (Armenia) rose by 66% as compared with the same period of 2013. During the campaign, the number of operations with Visa cards of VTB Bank (Armenia) averaged 10,000 daily. "The Bank has held such a campaign for the fifth time. Next year we intend to hold at least three such campaigns with Visa cards. In the future we are also going to launch card campaigns on the occasion of Olympic Games", said Khachatryan. When replying to ArmInfo's question, he said that today the Bank has over 350 thsd active cards (with most of them being Visa), and the number of Visa cardholders is more than 280 thsd. The share of VTB Bank (Armenia) in the card market of Armenia is nearly 25%. At the moment, the Bank has 150 ATMs and 180 POS terminals. 

According to the Analytical Review "Armenian Banks in Card Business" by the Agency of Rating Marketing Information (ArmInfo), VTB Bank (Armenia) is in the lead in active cards. It serves local ArCa cards along with issuing and servicing international Visa cards. In late 2013 the Bank started issuing international MasterCards as well.  The Bank has also been in the lead in pension cards since they were launched in the Armenian market. VTB Bank (Armenia) joined VTB Group in April 2004 and is fully owned by VTB Bank, the second biggest bank in Russia. VTB Bank (Armenia) is one of the leaders of Armenia's banking sector. It has 67 branches all over the country (the largest branch network in Armenia).  It also has an own processing center, which gives it an advantage in the card market. 

Visa - Payment cards are used by people around the world. Visa cards offer convenience and reliability and are used for paying for purchases in more than 200 countries. VisaNet processing system capacity is 47,000 transactions per second. By Visa's data on the Armenian card market, as of late Q2 2014 versus late Q2 2013 the turnover growth in the trade network made up 26% and the share of turnover in the total amount, including cash withdrawal exceeded 10%.