ARARATBANK STARTS ISSUING MASTERCARDS

ARKA
June 25

Araratbank has started issuing plastic cards of the MasterCard
international system.

The bank’s Public Relations Department reports that the bank will
issue Gold, Business, Standard and Maestro cards. Araratbank offers
favorable terms of service on Armenia’s market.

Cards of all four types will be issued free of charge. Annual service
fee is 30,000 AMD for Gold cards, 20,000 for Business cards, 10,000
for Standard cards and 4,000 for Maestro cards. From September 1,
2008, discounts will be set for plastic cards of the last two types.

The minimum balance requirement is 40,000, $100 and â~B¬100 for Gold
cards, 30,000 AMD, $100 and â~B¬80 for Business cards, 3,000 AMD,
$10 and â~B¬10 for Standard cards, and 2,000 AMD, $5 and â~B¬10 for
Maestro cards.

No commission charge for getting cash by means of Gold and Standard
cards at Araratbank’s ATMs has been set. As regards Business and
Maestro cards, the commission charge is 0.2% of the sum received. Card
holders using other banks’ ATMs will pay a commission charge of 0.8%.

An annual interest rate of 3% will be accrued on the balance of
accounts on the cards. As regards overdrafts/credit lines, the
annual interest will reach 18% for Standard cards and 16% for Gold
and Business cards.

Araratbank Executive Director Ashot Hosipyan said earlier that the
bank plans to issue up to 30,000 plastic cards this year and record
the third largest number of cards in Armenia’s banking system. The
bank has so far issued a total of 14,000 plastic cards.

Araratbank, legal successor of Armcommunicationbank, was founded on
September 2, 1991. On October 31, 1996, the bank received License
No. 4.

Last August the bank was transformed to an open joint-stock company. By
March 31, 2008, the bank’s assets had amounted to 26.2bln AMD,
capital 5.1bln AMD. In the 1st quarter of 2008, the bank’s profit
totaled 216.9mln AMD.

–Boundary_(ID_I9Ub0PoMpNU3kwzO884DCA)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress