Armenian communities exist all around the world. The largest one outside Armenia, estimated to be between 500,000 and 2 million people, is in the US. American Armenians mostly live in California, New York, as well as Massachusetts and Oregon. Among the most famous Armenians in the US are Serj Tankian, System of a Dawn founder and frontman, and, perhaps even more popular, the Kardashian family led by its star Kimberly Noel, known globally as Kim Kardashian.
At the same time, Europe is also home to many famous Armenians, such as Charles Aznavour, the legendary French chansonnier. Overall, France and Armenia maintain close cultural ties. Many French politicians, athletes, scientists, and artists are of Armenian descent. According to various estimates, more than 650,000 ethnic Armenians live in France today, mostly in large cities like Paris, Marcelle, or Lyon. Germany hosts a smaller Armenian community of around 60,000 people. A similar number of Armenians have settled in Spain. Poland and the Netherlands each host about 40,000 people, and Italy up to 20,000, same as the Czech Republic and the UK. The rest of Europe is home to around 100,000 people of Armenian descent and considering themselves Armenians.
All these people maintain close connections with Armenia. For them, Armenia is and will always be their home. Therefore, it is important for Armenians living in Europe to provide financial support to their relatives, friends, and loved ones who remain in the country. In this article, we discuss how to transfer money from Europe to Armenia in a fast and efficient way and look into the pros and cons of the most popular methods.
Bank transfers
There are several options to transfer money from Europe to Armenia. First on the list is a wire transfer from a European bank account to an Armenian one. The main banks operating in Armenia are: Ameriabank, Ardshinbank, Acba Bank, InecoBank, Converse Bank, Armeconombank, Armbusinessbank, ArmSwissBank, and AraratBank. To make a money transfer via SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), you need to complete the following steps:
1) Obtain the recipient’s bank details
To make a SWIFT transfer, you must know the name and address of the recipient’s bank, its SWIFT code (a unique identifier of the bank in the SWIFT system), the recipient’s bank account number and their name.
2) Contact your bank
You must contact your bank and let them know that you would like to make an international money transfer via SWIFT. Then get a respective form to fill in from a bank employee.
3) Complete the money transfer form
Complete the money transfer form providing the details of the recipient’s bank and the information about the transfer such as its currency, amount, etc.
4) Confirm the transfer
Confirm the transfer by paying a respective commission fee. Banks usually apply charges to SWIFT transfers. Moreover, your bank might be not the only one to charge extra; the recipient’s bank may add its own fees for an international money transfer. Not only is this inconvenient but also expensive. In the end, such transfers may involve extra charges of up to 8% of the amount.
5) Wait until the transfer is completed
SWIFT transfers usually take several days to reach their destination. A bank transfer requires much time to complete, which is another disadvantage.
6) Make sure the transfer is received
Once the transfer is through, make sure the money has been deposited to the recipient’s account. As a rule, the recipient bank notifies about a SWIFT transfer by issuing a receipt or sending a notification by email.
Sending money via cryptocurrency
Another way to send a money transfer to Armenia is by means of cryptocurrency. This is what you need to do in this case:
Select the cryptocurrency that you would like to use to send money to Armenia. Some of the most popular ones include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC).
Find a crypto exchange that supports conversion of the selected cryptocurrency into the money accepted in Armenia. Among the popular crypto exchanges are Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken.
Sign up with the selected crypto exchange if you don’t have an account yet. After the registration, you must confirm your identity and select payment methods.
Top up your crypto exchange account by the selected payment method, which may vary depending on the country and the crypto exchange. The most common ways to top up a crypto account is from a bank account or by card.
Once you’ve deposited the funds, select the ‘Send’ tab and enter the number of the crypto wallet to which you intend to send money to Armenia. That’s the drawback here: the recipient of your money transfer must also have a registered crypto wallet.
Enter the amount you would like to send and confirm the transaction.
Wait until the transaction is validated. This may take between a couple of minutes and several hours depending on the cryptocurrency and the network capacity.
Keep in mind that cryptocurrencies are highly volatile; therefore, before sending your money transfer make sure you understand the risks of crypto transactions.
Money transfer services
There is, however, a way involving minimal risks, fast delivery of funds, and saving money. It is specialised money transfer services that do not require opening a bank account. One of such services is Profee.
Thanks to its direct card-to-card transaction technology, Profee, a European money transfer system, allows you to send money almost instantly. You can send money on Profee.com or a user-friendly iOS/Android app.
To sign up with Profee, you only need to confirm your phone number and then provide basic personal details such as your street address in Europe. Immediately after the registration, you can send up to €1,000. And if you’ve reached the limit after some time, there is a very simple procedure to verify your identity and residence in one of the EEA countries (you only need to present a utility bill for that). After verification, you will be able to send to Armenia up to EUR 30,000 a year.
