National Assembly deputy Babken Tunyan has denied reports circulating about a ban on cash payments starting March 1.

“No, there is no such thing. There is no such decision, and there are no such plans. It will continue as it does today: for transactions worth up to 300,000 drams, a person can pay either in cash or non-cash. For transactions exceeding 300,000 drams, non-cash payment will be mandatory. With exceptions, for example, in healthcare and educational services, where payments must be made non-cash,” he said in a Facebook video message.

The lawmaker added that he does not know where the rumors originated.

“From March 1, we have another important change, a positive one: in the case of non-cash trade, when paying by card, card commission fees will be reduced by half. That means that for transactions with ARCA cards, the commission will amount to only 0.5 percent, and for MasterCard and Visa transactions it will be just 0.9 percent. I think this is very important and good news, especially for our small business operators,” Tunyan said.

He also recalled that when making purchases with ARCA cards, it is possible to receive up to 2 percent cashback.

Rumors have been circulating that from March 1 cash payments would be completely prohibited and people would be required to pay exclusively in non-cash form — by card or transfer.