National Smart Card Retail Payment System

Using smart card technology, Alexius developed in conjunction with the Central Bank and the commercial banking sector, a credit and debit card service in the Republic of Armenia called Armenian Card or ArCa. The aim of the project was to spur economic transactions thereby increasing local business activity, employment and living standards in a country where many of its citizens had neither the access nor convenience of performing electronic transactions.

As explained in our Financial Services sector, the key to an effective financial services system is a cohesive design that involves multiple levels of participation by citizens, governmental entities and private businesses.  Two previous efforts had been made in Armenia to create a debit and credit card system, and though each attempt got closer to unifying a system, neither provided their users with a sustainable solution. 

Alexius conducted the feasibility study, project design, strategic project management and the program's implementation.  Alexius also played the role of broker by building relationships with international service providers and vendors such as Europay/Mastercard and VISA, performing vendor proposal evaluations, as well as contracting and conducting negotiations.  Further, Alexius was successful in establishing a strategic development alliance with Citibank, which provided technical and strategic management training to ArCa member bank presidents and bank line managers.  This alliance was part of the second phase of the project which focused on business planning, strategic development, institutional capacity building, product development, and marketing, along side both business and technical operations.

The success of the national payment system is reflected in the steady increase of Armenian Cards issued, ATMs and points of sale.  Beginning initially with 2,000 cards, 6 ATMs and 200 points of sale, Armenia now boasts 283,000 cards, 316 ATMs and 1,800 points of sale.  The holistic approach taken by Alexius and the Central Bank allowed technological financial services to be accessed by the Armenian people creating a sustainable solution of national scale.