HSBC Bank Armenia summarized the results of its three month special offer, aimed to encourage non-cash sales transactions. The campaign was announced together with MasterCard and this year, for the first time, it was held exclusively with HSBC Bank Armenia. Over one hundred of the Bank’s cardholders won digital photo frames. Fifty two of them were chosen based on number of transactions criteria (at least 50), and the other fifty cardholders based on volume of transactions criteria (at least AMD 1,000,000) during the period from 01 November, 2011 until 31 January, 2012. “We were delighted that MasterCard chose HSBC Armenia as its exclusive partner in conducting this promotion campaign, and we were very pleased with the results”, - HSBC Bank Armenia Chief Executive Officer Astrid Clifford stated. Non-cash transactions conducted by HSBC Bank Armenia MasterCards during the three month period from 01 November, 2011 until 31 January, 2012 totaled AMD 4.9 billion, a 29 % increase on the same period in previous year. In 2011 HSBC Bank Armenia resumed acquiring of international VISA and MasterCards and started servicing ArCa cards via its ATM network. The bank has also started to issue chip and pin cards, which provide customers with higher security than cards with a magnetic stripe. In addition to 53 standard ATMs, the bank also launched its first Drive Through ATM on 20A Myasnikyan Street, Arax petrol station last September. HSBC Holdings plc HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 7,200 offices in over 80 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, North and Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$2,556bn at 31 December 2011, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC Bank Armenia cjsc HSBC Bank Armenia cjsc was the first international bank to open in Armenia in 1996. The bank is a joint venture between the HSBC Group, which has 70 percent ownership, and members of overseas Armenian businesses. The bank offers a wide range of products and services to individual as well as corporate customers, including personal financial services, commercial banking and treasury and capital markets services. Thanks to the HSBC network in 85 countries and territories, the bank is uniquely positioned to provide truly international services to its customers. The Yerevan office opened with 18 staff and under 100 clients. HSBC Bank Armenia cjsc today has more than 35 thousand individual and almost five thousand corporate customers and employs 398 employees at nine branches and offices in Yerevan. The bank has one of the largest networks of more than 50 ATMs located throughout Yerevan. HSBC in Armenia has grown assets from five million US dollars in 1996 to just 464 million US dollars today.

---