Abstract:
The banking industry can be characterized as an oligopoly of the 3 largest banks which play the dominant role in the industry. The most of the private banks play an insignificant role in Armenian banking system, and in particularly, in international transactions. However, they are active on the currency exchange market. The most of banks too heavily depend on the Central Bank loans: the major source of funds for the banks are loans from the Central Bank of Armenia (except the 2-3 biggest ones). The competition in the area of international banking is not strong in Armenia. The quality of international services provided by Armenian banks is unsatisfactory. The majority of the customers chose to bring and make payments in cash in Armenia and avoid any involvement of the banks in this process.