VTB Bank (Armenia) and Visa sum up results of Olympic Campaign Sochi 2014

On December 10, VTB Bank (Armenia) and Visa summed up the results of Olympic Campaign Sochi 2014. The campaign was aimed at increasing the noncash payments by Visa cards of VTB Bank (Armenia) and raising the Armenian consumers' awareness of operability of the Visa payment cards.  

It was pointed out at today's press conference that 100 cardholders  of VTB Bank (Armenia), who obtained the biggest number of bonus  points, became participants in a drawing of 101 valuable prizes of  the Bank, particularly, 50 certificates for purchase of appliances at  ARAY store until 1 Feb 2014 and 50 certificates for the Bank's  products at preferential terms (-1% for a loan or +1% for a deposit)  until 1 Feb 2014. The key prize of the campaign was a trip (for two  persons) to the Winter Olympic Games 2014 in Sochi. The winner of the  key prize was the Bank's customer Armen Grigoryan. 

"Due to the Olympic Campaign Sochi 2014 held jointly with Visa, the  Bank's customers can feel themselves part of the Olympic movement and  root for the sportsmen from the tiers. This is the second joint  campaign this year and it has become a stimulus to use the Bank's  Visa cards when making various kinds of payments, which have grown  more than twofold. It is pleasant to realize that the Bank is  promoting the popularity of the plastic cards in Armenia", said Yuri  Gusev, Director General, Chairman of Directorate of VTB Bank  (Armenia). 

When asked by ArmInfo to assess the situation of Visa cards in the  plastic market of Armenia, Irina Kamkhadze, Country Manager Caucasus  countries at Visa, said that the dynamics is stable if the matter  concerns the ratio of noncash operations against the total card  turnover, which has been 10% for almost a year. "This is a rather  high index as compared with the CIS countries, for instance. Our key  goal is to increase the volume of noncash payments", she said. 

During the campaign (from Oct 1 till Nov 30) the number of Visa card  transactions grew by 50%. The turnover almost redoubled as compared  with Nov 30 2012. The average daily quantity was 8,000 transactions.

"Visa and we will continue holding such campaigns. They have already  offered us a new interesting project. As regards the Visa card  tariffs, they are quite competitive. This is a well-balanced price,  reflecting the actual cost of this service. Let's not forget that  card business is one of the most investment-intensive banking activities," Gusev said in response to ArmInfo's question.

Armenia started acquiring Visa cards in 2001, with 12 Armenian banks already having such cards. As of Apr 1 2013 there were 600,000 active Visa cards in Armenia (30% more than a year before).

VTB Bank (Armenia) joined VTB Group in Apr 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. It also has an own processing center, which gives it an advantage on the card market.