Very soon we’ll be able to perform all cashless transactions for just about everything. What with digital inclusion! It’s the new way and we are loving it. In this same spirit the country’s oldest social security benefits firm, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) is aligning its service delivery as the Social security services provider of choice with the new age of convenience & cutting back on paperwork in their most recent developments.
NSSF has always been coming up with all kinds of innovate ways to see that it makes its member’s life easier, including the introduction of smart cards in December last year, to enable them serve customers through different channels as well as other easy to use services such as: self-service Kiosks, integration into banking infrastructure (ATM’s) and Mobile platforms. All this is made for their customers to access their statements at their convenience. On August 2015, NSSF launched a mobile app, “NSSF GO” that helps their customers to track their savings. NSSF Go channels would also help improve compliance levels by enabling the Fund’s members to easily validate whether their employers are remitting their social security contributions in time.
“The Fund will continue to innovate and offer convenient, customized solutions to its members, NSSF Managing Director Richard Byarugaba said.”
Earlier this week, the Fund shut down its old E-collection system and adapted a more advanced tech savvy portal that will enable employers and banks remit employee savings through the digital platform.
E-Collections is an electronic way of processing employee contributions onto their NSSF accounts with minimal manual interventions. It involves having a straight forward process of remitting members’ contributions from the employer through the Bank to NSSF.
While addressing guests at Kampala Serena Hotel, NSSF Managing Director Richard Byarugaba said that the new E-collections platform will enable the Fund improve the customer experience in remitting their funds.
“The new E-collection system will enable us to improve our data quality whilst increasing collections by taking away the data management function from the banks in form of receiving and passing on schedules from employers.”
The process will also ease the mode of contributions payment, enable real time reconciliation between the BANK and NSSF, improve data quality and faster update of member accounts and consequently leading to a faster processing of member benefits,” Byarugaba said.
“By introducing the new system, the employer and employee data quality will be refined and improved in accuracy and completeness. I therefore appeal to employers to all switch to this system as it is more efficient and faster,” he added.
Byarugaba also added that the new system is in line with NSSF’s vision of being the Social Security Provider of Choice.
Each Employer is given login credentials to access the E-collections Portal. At the end of the process a Transaction Reference Number (TRN) is generated for the employer and this is what is taken to the bank for payment purposes together with cash or cheque, depending on the payment mode selected.
NSSF partners with Banks to act as a one-stop center for employers to remit payments and the corresponding schedules. Banks are mandated to receive payments and schedules from employers and pass them on to NSSF within a specified amount of time.
Benefits of the new portal
- Provides easy access to NSSF Contribution payments Systems.
- Enables direct upload of Schedules onto the NSSF Server.
- Eliminates errors in the schedules.
- No need for receipts and reduces the amount of paper work required.
- Gives employers access to payments reports.
- Provides a feedback mechanism for Employers.
