The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has made it easier for its members to remit their contributions following the unveiling of a cashless payment system in partnership with giant telco Safaricom.
Members will now be able to contribute directly into their NSSF accounts through Safaricom’s mobile money product, M-PESA.
The platform was unveiled Monday when the savings firm hosted the telco at its headquarters in Nairobi.
“The platform we are launching today, will make contributing to NSSF easy and effortless, We are aware that we have an enormous task ahead in meeting public expectations in our new role as a pension fund and I wish to assure you that the Fund is striving to enhance the member experience and we have a couple of initiatives that we shall roll out in the next couple of months,” said Dr. Julius Karangi, Chairman Board of Trustees, NSSF.
Under the new system, contributions and other payments to NSSF will be made through M-PESA’s paybill menu via PayBill Number 333300. Beneficiaries can key their NSSF Account Number under the Account Number and complete the transaction.
This means members will no longer visit NSSF offices to remit payments.
Furthermore, NSSF members can track their payments via an online portal or the organization’s mobile app. New members can also register for the service using the same facilities.
“We applaud NSSF for selecting Safaricom as a partner in their shift to fully automated and cashless operations. More of our enterprise customers are adopting digitization as they increasingly focus on their customers’ needs. By cutting down on time spent handling and reconciling cash payments, the NSSF and its members can now enjoy the benefits of increased operational efficiency,” said Rita Okuthe, Chief Enterprise Business Officer, Safaricom.
Through this partnership, employers with 20 and fewer employees can also make their staff remittances through M-PESA.
To contribute, the employer uploads their payroll data to the NSSF portal, after which they generate the Unique Payment Number (UPN) as part of their payment order. The employer then keys in the UPN as the Account Number under M-PESA.
NSSF is also enhancing the ease of doing business whereby returns will only be filed online.
