Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Ltd., on Wednesday in Abuja urged employees to always update their information with their Pension Fund Administrators (PFA) to facilitate easy access to their retirement benefits.
Mr Eric Fajemisin, the Chief Executive Officer of the PFA said this at the Stanbic IBTC Pension Employers’ Forum with the theme: “Emerging Trends in the Nigerian Pension Industry’’.
He urged employers to encourage their employees to leverage the Enhanced Contributor Registration System (ECRS) newly deployed by the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) to ensure that their data was up to date.
The ECRS is an electronic platform for the submission of requests by PFAs for the registration of contributors and issuance of Personal Identification Numbers (PINs).
Fajemisin said that the system provides a more dynamic and friendly user interface that made the operation of data capturing seamless.
He expressed optimism that employees would encounter less difficulties in accessing their retirement benefits due to reduction of errors.
On her part, Mrs Yinka Johnson, Head Business Development Division, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, said that the ECRS was introduced in June 2019 to ensure that everybody in the contributory pension scheme would have unique identity.
She expressed concern that many people have difficulties accessing their retirement benefits due to conflicting data.
“Data has become very important, so it is important that everybody has a unique identity.
“If your data is properly captured, you will not experience delays in having your money remitted when you retire.
“There is no need for conflicting date of birth and it is important to notify PFAs when phone numbers and home addresses are changed,’’ Johnson said.
Similarly, Mrs Oyikansola Coker, Head, Contributions and Collections Department, called for improved collaboration between PFAs and employees to enable contributors get value for their money.
Coker identified accounts that are not credited as major problem in the pension industry.
According to her, accounts that are not credited is a major problem in the pension industry because the contributions end up in suspense accounts, not contributor Retirement Savings Account (RSA).
“Accounts not credited, the contributions originate usually from funds without schedules and schedules with issues and correction requests.
“If employers collaborate and ensure at all times that all remittances are 100 per cent, contributors can get value for their monthly deductions and can retire well,’’ Coker said.
Mrs Edidiong Akpan, the Chief Compliance Officer said that benefits of complying with the requirements of the contributory pension scheme could not be over emphasised.
She listed them to include receipt of regular pension upon retirement and reduction of personal income tax.
Akpan disclosed that PENCOM would soon announce the opening of a transfer window from June 2020, and urged employees to maximise opportunities provided by the window.
She also urged contributors to remit within seven days after payment of salary, noting that delay attracts two per cent penalty.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event featured the review of various pension administration charges and the need to understand the enhanced contributory registration system.
