What do you do if you have laid the ground for a robust, effectively-regulated financial system, but citizens’ prosperity ultimately depends on their relationship with money and their capacity to manage it? The Central Bank of Armenia launched an online resource to help educate the population on this topic. We spoke to Davit Kharatyan, whose team continues to lead this effort, to learn more about ABCFinance.am.
Text : Nazareth Seferian Photo : CBA
Back in 2010, the internet was beginning to gain traction in Armenia as a useful medium to raise awareness and spread information on a range of topics. The Central Bank of Armenia decided to jump on this bandwagon to promote financial literacy, launching ABCFinance.am. “The website has evolved from being an informational resource into a comprehensive, user-centric digital financial education ecosystem,” says Davit Kharatyan, a financial literacy expert and digital marketing expert at the CBA.
Today, the platform serves as the Central Bank of Armenia’s main public interface for financial literacy and is structured around several key components. First, there is the educational content hub, which is a core component that provides accessible, structured information on personal finance topics such as budgeting, saving, borrowing, investing, and consumer rights. The content is designed for different target groups and serves as a practical guide for everyday financial decision-making. Second come the interactive learning tools, which integrate digital and behavioral instruments like calculators, quizzes, and gamified elements, helping users better understand financial concepts through practical application rather than passive reading. The third component consists of edutainment and multimedia formats. These improve engagement through videos, games, podcasts, and storytelling, making financial education more relatable and easier to consume for broader audiences. Fourth, there is the bridge to formal education, because the platform also acts as a resource for schools, students and teachers, supporting the integration of financial education into the national curriculum with textbooks, guides, and supplementary materials available online. Finally, there is a link to a decision-making tool called Fininfo.am, a separate but connected platform that allows users to compare financial products and services. “Together, these elements bridge the gap between learning and real-life financial decision-making,” says Davit.
Davit Kharatyan Financial Literacy Expert CBA Consumer Empowerment Center
The Central Bank of Armenia actively uses social media to promote financial literacy, engaging with around two-thirds of social media users in the country through Facebook and Instagram. “Naturally, our content differs depending on the medium we are using. On Facebook, we focus on more informational and explanatory content like clear posts, articles, and discussions addressing frequently asked financial questions. On Instagram, we adapt the same topics into more visual and concise formats, such as short videos, carousels, and simplified tips,” Davit explains, “Our experience shows that the key driver of engagement does not depend as much on the platform as on high-quality, relevant content. When the topic resonates with users, especially around real-life financial decisions, it performs well across channels.”
Facebook remains the most popular channel in Armenia for such content. In the early years, the most actively used features involved relatively basic tools like financial calculators. Users were interested in the sections with information on loans, deposits, pensions, and budgeting. But things are evolving both in terms of technologies as well as user behavior.
“With the rapid adoption of AI-powered tools, many users now prefer to ask questions, run calculations, and receive instant answers through AI interfaces rather than navigating standalone website tools. In this context, the role of platforms like ABCFinance.am website is also shifting. Today, we increasingly position the platform as a reliable, structured source of high-quality financial information, rather than relying solely on direct tool usage,” Davit says.
This means that ABCFinance.am acts as a trusted content hub that can support both users and AI systems with accurate, well-structured information. The distribution through social media makes sense because that is where users are more active and receptive.
“We aim to ensure that our content is accessible, clear, and reusable,” Davit summarizes, “While interactive tools have historically resonated strongly with users, today’s priority is to adapt to changing behaviors by strengthening our role as a credible information hub and meeting users where they already are.”
As with any online resource, it is key to measure the effectiveness of ABCFinance.am and understand how visitors are using the website. This requires a combination of digital analytics, user engagement signals, and broader impact indicators. First, this consists of extracting website analytics, while respecting user privacy. The Central Bank maintains high personal data protection standards and only works with aggregated and anonymized data, such as demographics and user behavior patterns. The meaningful engagement patterns they observe help inform the evaluation of its use and drive future modifications to the resource. “For example, users typically visit 3-4 pages per session, often combining tools and content such as moving from a calculator to related educational materials. This suggests that users are not just passively browsing but are actively exploring and trying to understand financial topics,” Davit explains.
Next, social media engagement provides an important layer of insight. Davit’s team receives direct messages containing questions on financial topics, sees active discussions in comments, and maintains consistently high engagement rates. These interactions indicate that users are not only consuming content but are also seeking to apply it to their real-life decisions.
“At a broader level, financial education is not always immediately measurable in a single interaction. Its impact is often reflected in what we call ‘teachable moments’, when individuals actively look for information before making a financial decision. Our goal is to ensure that ABCFinance.am is top-of-mind at those moments,” Davit outlines, “This is why understanding the full user journey is critical. It is essential that when users search for financial information whether through search engines, social media, or even AI tools, our content appears and supports their decision-making process.”
These efforts are eventually also reflected in national-level indicators. Results from the Financial Capability Barometer 2025 show measurable improvement, including an increase of around 9.6 percentage points, which serves as an important signal that financial education initiatives, including ABCFinance.am, are contributing to positive changes in financial behavior. Although behavioral changes cannot be directly seen at an individual level, a combination of engagement depth, user interactions, and improved financial capability outcomes indicates that the platform is influencing how people think about and manage their finances.
Davit also realizes that the effectiveness of ABCFinance.am is not just in its content, but in how it communicates with the outside world. “We operate with a separate identity from the Central Bank, which allows us to speak in a more accessible, everyday language rather than institutional or highly technical terms. This distinction is critical: if financial education sounds too formal or distant, people simply disengage,” he says.
His team applies a few key principles to their work—using plain language, prioritizing visuals and well-designed content, segmenting their audience, and remaining relevant to real-life situations. The ultimate goal is to ensure that financial education is not perceived as too difficult or an ‘experts only’ space, but rather as something practical, understandable, and directly useful in everyday life.
As financial education grows more sophisticated in Armenia, the future seems bright for this useful resource. “Looking ahead, ABCFinance.am will continue to strengthen its role as a central hub for reliable financial education. We aim to become a place where both individuals and partners can turn for accurate, structured, and up-to-date information,” Davit suggests, “Our vision is that the platform not only serves end users directly, but also becomes a source for other initiatives and projects, enabling a more scalable and consistent flow of financial education content across different channels.”
ABCFinance.am is actively testing AI-driven solutions, exploring how new technologies can enhance user experience, improve accessibility, and support more personalized learning journeys. In the near future, the team is also planning a major upgrade of the platform’s technical infrastructure, with a new, more advanced website expected next year. This will be built with a stronger, more flexible architecture and designed to reflect ongoing digital shifts.
“There are several key priorities for the next phase. The first one is personalization, which will allow users to receive more relevant content based on their needs. Next comes AI integration both in content delivery and user interaction. Our users can look forward to self-assessment and interactive learning features, helping them better understand their own financial behavior. Finally, we are aiming to use a more adaptive design aligned with evolving digital consumption patterns,” Davit says.
It is clear that there is no final destination when it comes to financial education—it is a journey that grows in sophistication as users learn more about the topic. ABCFinance.am expects to continue evolving as part of that process, leading users down the path of greater knowledge, skills, and capacity when it comes to managing their money and building a future for themselves that is more secure and prosperous.