In Armenia, it will still be possible to withdraw pensions and social benefits from bank cards, despite rumors to the contrary. The Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Arsen Torosyan, stated that talks about an alleged complete ban on withdrawing funds from January 1, 2026, are not true. According to him, plastic cards will continue to be used, and recipients of payments will be able to cash out funds if necessary.
At the same time, the authorities are betting on cashless payments. As Torosyan noted, when paying for purchases with a card, there is a refund mechanism that actually allows you to increase the size of the pension or benefit by about 20%, but not more than 10 thousand drams. That is why cashless use of payments is considered more profitable, although there is no forced abandonment of cash yet.
The minister recalled that from April 1, 2026, all types of pensions and benefits will be transferred exclusively in non-cash form — to bank cards. About 600 thousand citizens are already receiving payments in this way, and another 58 thousand are recommended to switch to it in advance. The authorities urge not to succumb to manipulation and focus only on official information.