Four Armenian banks stopped working with Unistream system

Unistream Bank, the operator of the payment system of the same name, came under US blocking sanctions on July 20. After that, two Georgian and four Armenian banks refused to work with the Russian system

Armenian Ardshinbank and Converse Bank, following Armeconombank and Evocabank, announced the termination of work with the Russian Unistream payment system. This happened two days after the US imposed sanctions against the payment system.

“Ardshinbank” CJSC stops making money transfers through the Unistream fast money transfer system. The bank apologizes to customers and offers to make money transfers via fast money transfer systems [which are serviced by] Moneygram, Intelexpress, Ria, Moneytun bank,” the press service of Ardshinbank said in a statement.

Converse Bank's website states that you can receive a money transfer through Unistream by sending an application for a special Transfer Card. It will be possible to transfer funds from her account to a Converse Bank card, the press service added.

It became known yesterday that the Armenian Armeconombank and Evocabank also suspended work with the Russian payment system. In the latest edition of Frank Media, they stated that they do not work with sanctioned counterparties.

On July 20, Tinkoff Bank, Solidarity, Loco-bank, St. Petersburg Social Commercial Bank (PSKB), as well as Unistream Bank, the operator of the payment system of the same name (one of the three largest along with Golden Crown and Contact), fell under the most stringent restrictions - blocking US sanctions.

For the first time, US sanctions affected the money transfer system - Unistream is usually used by labor migrants who use it to transfer salaries from Russia to their families, in 2022 this system also became in demand among Russian emigrants. OFAC, when imposing sanctions, was probably guided by a desire to damage a number of channels of interaction between Russians and the outside world, which have recently gained popularity, Andrey Shpak, partner of Tomashevskaya & Partners, explained to RBC.

At the request of RBC, the press service of Unistream stated that "taking into account the geopolitical situation and the current international practice of working under sanctions," the bank developed an infrastructure solution that allows uninterrupted interaction with partners in the regular mode.

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In addition to Armenian banks, two largest Georgian banks reacted to the imposition of sanctions against Unistream: the company disappeared from the list of payment systems for crediting transfers in the TBC bank application, and Bank of Georgia support informed customers that it was impossible to credit transfers using Unistream.

In March , Armenian authorities reported that more than 110,000 Russians had arrived in the country in 2022. 2.5 thousand legal entities with Russian participants and another 4 thousand individual entrepreneurs were registered. According to the Minister of Economy of Armenia Vahan Kerobyan, out of the total growth of the Armenian economy (12.6%), 3 percentage points were provided due to the relocation of Russians.