— chairman urges use of banks to uplift benefits

THE National Insurance Scheme (NIS) will next year roll out a series of initiatives

countrywide to make it easier for persons to have their queries on pensions addressed, General Manager Holly Greaves has said.
She was at the time speaking at a public relations campaign to launch the Pension Readiness Programme in the NIS Compound, Brickdam, Georgetown on Thursday.
The programme seeks to identify insured persons who are 55 years and over and would be eligible for Old Age Benefit at age 60.

The scheme revolves around the collection of contributions and payment of benefits.

“Today, the focus is pensions, which is one of the benefits received from the organisation. In order for benefits to be paid, the Records Department must supply accurate information on contributions to the Benefits and Pensions Department, so that the claimant’s entitlement could be determined,” the general manager said.
She explained that the aim of the Pension Readiness Programme is to enable insured persons to begin from as early as 55 to verify their NIS contribution records so as to make their future claims.

“This is to ensure that all your contributions are complete and accurate. It is in our best interest to guide and assist you in making your claims for pension. It is therefore quintessential to remind you to keep all of your registration information updated. We have a variety of forms that are available to enable you to make any changes in regards to information such as address and name change amongst others,” she explained.
Persons can access these forms at the various NIS branches or the scheme’s website nis.org.gy.

NIS also hopes to collaborate with the Ministry of Social Protection to add another dimension to the initiative in 2017 by having seminars to help prospective pensioners fully understand and embrace the issues relating to retirement lifestyle, income planning and investment planning and other related financial elements.
NIS Chairman, Dr Surendra Persaud, urged pensioners to use the banking facility to uplift their benefits. Senior citizens would usually visit NIS headquarters at Brickdam, Georgetown, to uplift their vouchers and then encash them at a post office.

“There is no cost to the pensioner by NIS or the bank to have the money placed in the bank… the money can go into your bank account and you use your ATM card at your convenience,” Persaud said.
“Banking will make the NIS operate more efficiently and persons living in Guyana only have to produce a life certificate once a year.”
When someone fills up an application, that person is required to present three forms. One is completed by the contributor, the other by a commercial bank and the other by the NIS.
The company would then send instructions to the bank to deposit a specified amount into the account of the pensioner.