Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) & Bank Alfalah celebrated the migration of 200,000 EOBI pensioners to Bank Alfalah’s Wallet Accounts at an event in Karachi. The project is important for thousands of EOBI pensioners whose lives have been made easier through digitization of pension disbursement process.
In August 2015, Bank Alfalah was awarded the banking service mandate through comparative bidding process as per PPRA Rules for contribution collection and disbursement of pensions to over 390,000 EOBI pensioners. After gradual opening of Bank Alfalah Wallet Accounts, pensioners are now enjoying the convenience of withdrawing pensions through their debit cards.
Prior to digitizing, EOBI pensioners were required to visit specific NBP branches every month along with their pension passbooks and wait in long queues for manual / cash disbursement. The newly introduced digital system eliminates that hassle extending the freedom to draw pensions from any of 10,000 ATMs across the country at their convenience.
Mr. Muhammed Sualeh Faruqui, Ex-Chairman EOBI, and now Principal Secretary to Governor Sindh, said:
“Seeing hundreds of aged EOBI pensioners, both men and women, queued in and outside bank branches to collect their pensions was very painful for me. The ease of Bank Alfalah ATM based disbursements matches the well-deserved respect and dignity of EOBI pensioners. The model itself is the one to take inspiration from. We are pleased that Bank Alfalah has already completed over 200,000 registrations. We hope that the compulsory migrations of remaining pensioners in January 2017 will be effectively handled.”
Mehreen Ahmed, Group Head Retail Banking South & New Initiatives, Bank Alfalah said:
As the transition nears its completion, pensioners have started to withdraw pensions from the convenience of over 10,000 ATMs using Bank Alfalah debit cards.
“Pakistan needs many such initiatives to bring convenience and quality to the lives of elderly citizens,”
said Mr. Pir Syed Sadaruddin Shah Rashidi, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis & Human Resource Development. He further added that collaboration between EOBI and Bank Alfalah to facilitate the elderly citizens should be emulated by other government and private organizations. He congratulated EOBI and Bank Alfalah for completing 200,000 registrations in a short time. Mr. Rashidi also appreciated the mobile App developed by HRSG and expected that it will be available to workers very soon. He expected that the App will narrow the gap between workers and EOBI Management.
The event also featured pensioners sharing their experience on how the new system of pension disbursals had brought ease to their lives. Besides, the mobile App launch by HRSG will enable more and more workers to easily register themselves with EOBI and enjoy the benefits ensured by the State of Pakistan through its social safety net.
Bank Alfalah has been awarded a 5-year mandate for disbursement of funds to EOBI pensioners across the country. Under the agreement, Bank Alfalah will offer a safe and secure mechanism to disburse funds in EOBI pensioners’ account, linked to UnionPay International debit cards, while employers will also deposit pension contributions at Bank Alfalah branches across Pakistan.
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