Central bank deputy head: state regulation and innovations in electronic money area in Armenia should be balanced

YEREVAN, July 18. /ARKA/. State regulation and innovations in electronic money area in Armenia should be balanced, Nerses Yeritsyan, deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia, said Wednesday at the presentation of e-money system Idram. 

Idram company got permission fr om the Central Bank of Armenia on March 6, 2012, for issuing electronic money. Idram LLC is the first in Armenia that has received permission from the Central Bank to issue electronic money. 

“E-money system security should become one of the most important objectives of Idram,” Yeritsyan said. “If the company regularly makes investments in security system, the necessity of state regulation will significantly lessen. Otherwise, we will have to expand the regulation.”

World trends E-money area development, he said, showed that financial payment systems have started integrating with e-money systems giving them more room. 

“Popularity of Internet expands those areas wh ere electronic money can be used,” Yeritsyan said. “E-money area has started developing a priori in all countries, since motivating influence was innovation. Introduction of e-money system contained some risks, but it did accomplish.”

He also stressed that Idram company enjoyed growth even when the area was not regulated, and now, when it is regulated, the company can reach higher achievements. 

To use electronic money one has to register in the system and store electronic scores, each of which is an equivalent of one dram. Idram scores can be obtained through subsidiaries, POS-terminals, bank branches, as well as through Visa, ArCa and MasterCard. 

The system provides seven levels of protection, and access to it can be performed without the use of special programs either from a phone or computer. To use this system, users must not necessarily have a bank account, as is the case with the largest electronic payment system Paypal in the USA. 

Idram electronic money can be converted to electronic money of other foreign systems. Idram’s main activity is to boost Internet-based payment services.-0-