ArmInfo. Twelve banks have already joined the ArCa Pay system, and eight have joined ArCaQR, with the majority participating in both, as stated by Vardan Khachatryan, Chairman of the Management Board and Executive Director of Armenian Card, during a press conference He noted that banks are currently in the integration phase for an additional ArCa Pay function: B2B services for legal entities.
Khachatryan presented data highlighting the growing interest in ArCa Pay. From its launch in October 2025 through June 2026, the number of new users grew from 446 to 2,799. Breaking down the figures by recipients and senders, the total number of users reached 12,491 and 9,297 respectively (up from 3,846 and 3,086), representing a two-fold increase over the half-year. The total volume of transactions reached 3.7 billion AMD in June 2026, a four-fold increase during the first half of the year. The average transaction size is 47,848 AMD.
Regarding ArCaQR, the coverage across Armenia as of June 2026 is as follows: Yerevan: 53.76% (15,496) Regional cities: 29.62% (8,537) Rural areas: 16.63% (4,793)
In terms of bank coverage for ArCaQR, Ameriabank and Acba Bank lead with 47.87% and 20.24% respectively, followed by AraratBank (7.96%), Evocabank (7.73%), Ardshinbank (7.13%), Converse Bank (6.67%), Armeconombank (2.06%), and ArmSwissBank (0.34%).
Khachatryan emphasized that Armenian Card successfully completes the PCI DSS 4.0 and PCI 3DS certifications annually, adhering to critical information security standards.
Outlining the company's strategy, the Executive Director stated that Armenian Card's motto is to be a reliable and innovative system. "First is reliability, second is security, and third is innovation. We aim to reach a 99.982% availability rate within the next five years, which is an industry-leading benchmark. Regarding security, particularly cybersecurity, the company regularly implements new tools and undergoes annual PCI DSS certification. We aim to earn the status of a national system not through legislation, but through effective performance and by building a high level of trust. Our priority is to ensure the reliability, security, and uninterrupted operation of the system."
"A clear example of this," Khachatryan continued, "is that in 2025, the system performed twice as much scheduled maintenance work as in 2024, which resulted in a four-fold reduction in downtime. This demonstrates both the efficiency of our team and the optimization of our processes. Having our own internal toolkit allows us to provide additional services to our participants. Furthermore, I would like to highlight the importance of ensuring the sovereignty of Armenia's payment system, which entails maintaining local cards and ensuring that software solutions are developed in-house by our team." Vardan Khachatryan noted that negotiations are underway with India regarding the integration of ArCa Pay with international national payment systems.
Ruben Saghoyan, Development Director at Armenian Card, added regarding ArCa Pay: "In addition to India, active technical work is currently underway with the Bank of Georgia. This means that transfers to India and Georgia will become a reality within this year. Negotiations are also being held with the UAE and with the relevant payment systems in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Furthermore, we are striving to reach agreements not only regarding the integration of ArCa Pay but also to ensure the accessibility of ArCa card payments. We are making efforts to ensure that by 2027, it will be possible to conduct transactions using ArCa cards in Georgia, which will eliminate the need to use international Visa or Mastercard cards for transactions in that direction."
Hovhannes Khachatryan, Chairman of the Board of Armenian Card, while responding to an ArmInfo question regarding the expanded role of Armenian Card as a fintech company, stated: "As the infrastructure providing the 'payment connection' between banks and clients, we strive to be as active, open, and innovative as possible so that global technological advancements become accessible in Armenia we are facilitating this to the greatest extent possible. Furthermore, our developments and products, particularly ArCa Pay, are excellent examples of open banking, and subsequently, cross-border payments and B2B services."
In this context, Development Director Saghoyan pointed out that a completely new fraud monitoring system, based on AI tools and possessing extensive capabilities, was implemented this year: "The process of migrating participant banks to this system is already well underway."
Regarding the question of why the adoption of a unified QR code image format necessary for the full functionality of the ArCaQR system is taking so long, Chairman Hovhannes Khachatryan replied: "In this regard, the Central Bank introduced a requirement (as of November 2025, concurrently with the launch of ArCaQR Ed.), but the work on introducing a unified QR code image format across all payment entities is still ongoing, with a slight delay. We are referring to standards and technical work, for which the process is continuing. There is a chain of technical tasks for banks and the entities serving clients. Our task is to ensure seamless and secure interconnection between the parties using this system."
Recall, Armenian Card implemented the ArCa Pay instant express payment system in November 2024, and a year later, in October 2025, launched the ArCaQR system payments using QR codes directly from a bank account. At the same time, the Central Bank of Armenia introduced a requirement to ensure interoperability for payments or transfers using QR codes, a single QR code image installed by banks and payment and settlement organizations at points of sale and/or services, effective October 2025.
It is worth noting that in February 2026, Armenian Card joined the FinTech Armenia Association, emphasizing its commitment to actively participating in the development of the fintech sector. Since April 2026, the ArCa Pay system has been featured on the World Bank Group's Fast Payments Global Tracker platform. In May 2026, Armenian Card became a member of UATE, taking a step toward a larger technological ecosystem. This collaboration clearly reflects Arca's continued expansion as a fintech company. Since June 2026, cooperation has been established between the largest QR payment systems in Armenia: ArcaQR and IdramNet.
