YEREVAN, February 20. /ARКА/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a government meeting that cashless payments exceed cash payments this year.
“This is a positive fact. We hoped to see such a situation back in 2018-2019. Of course, we need to understand the reasons, since, as I assume, the development of online commerce, facilitated by the presence of a number of large foreign companies in our market, had a significant impact. But the impact of the cashback system on pensions, family and social benefits is also obvious,” Pashinyan said, the government press service reported.
According to the prime minister, this system can become a good tool for discussing and finding solutions to promote cashless payments.
The meeting discussed the possible consequences of measures to promote cashless payments and alternative mechanisms.
During the exchange of views, various proposals were presented, including a pilot extension of the cashback system for a new group of beneficiaries.
Pashinyan instructed the responsible persons to submit a proposal on stimulating non-cash transactions and introducing a cashback mechanism based on the results of the discussion.
About the cashback system for non-cash expenses
Starting from July 1, 2022, pensioners and beneficiaries who use their bank cards to pay for goods and services receive a cashback of 12% of the total amount spent in the previous month, but not more than 6 thousand drams per month. These funds are credited to their bank cards by the 25th of the following month.
Over 2.5 years since the launch of the program, the volume of non-cash payments amounted to 171.7 billion drams, and 15.2 billion drams were refunded to citizens. The number of beneficiaries as of November 2024 was 278 thousand people.
On January 9, 2025, the government extended the program until December 30, 2025. (1 US dollar – 395.31 drams).
