NSSF members` access to accounts automated

NSSF members` access to accounts automated
By Stella Barozi
4th July 2011

National Social Security Fund members will by the end of this year have started accessing information on their accounts electronically.

This is thanks to the Fund’s identification management system, introduced to the public during last year’s Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair and now become fully operational.

The development is expected to spare members the problem of spending time queuing for long hours at NSSF offices for a service they will now get in minutes.

Winston Mundigile, Principal Systems Officer (Networking) with the Fund, said at the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair yesterday that the machines to be used have taken long to get into business because not all NSSF members have smart cards to be used in the “info-kiosks”.

“Smart cards are a must for members to access their information in the kiosks, to be installed at all NSSF offices soon,” he said.

He described “info-kiosk” (information kiosks) as self-service terminals placed strategically in high profile public areas, where it provides easy access to information and remote services for many hours.

“When we introduced the technology, we realised that members’ enrolment to get smart cards was far below our expectations and so we had to invest more efforts in enrolling more members,” explained Mundigile.

It was about three years ago that NSSF embarked on a countrywide exercise to replace old membership cards with the current electronic ones.

To ensure that all members have smart cards, the fund has been visiting its members at their respective workplaces and NSSF Director of Information Technology Said Masimango said 70 per cent of their 516,000 members already have smart cards.

“We want to change our service provision trend by taking our services to customers wherever they are rather than having customers seeking services at NSSF offices,” he noted.

The info-kiosks, which will use the biometric system (Automated Finger Print Identification System), will be placed at NSSF’s 23 regional offices, 14 district offices and 11 sub-district offices countrywide.

Masimango said the system will provide members with easy access to information like statements, employers’ remittances of employees’ contributions to the Fund and general information about the Fund without involving NSSF workers.

He added that the biggest advantage was that employees whose contributions were not remitted to the Fund would be able to make follow-ups with their employers before it got too late.

He confirmed that some employers deduct money from their employees’ salaries for NSSF contributions but don’t take the money to NSSF.

He said the information will be both in English and Swahili and one will be able to get a hard copy of their information if they wish as printing is possible.

Masimango explained further that they are busy working on translations as the machines are meant to operate in English language, adding that the machines will be deployed at mining companies first on a pilot basis.

The new technology, already in use in more than 11 countries in this part of Africa, is widely expected to cut the incidence of inefficiency (mainly the perpetually “missing files”), corruption and mismanagement commonly affecting national social security funds.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN