Bank switch for welfare recipients

Social welfare recipients will soon receive their assistance through the Bank South Pacific instead of Westpac Bank.

Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Mereseini Vuniwaqa said the decision to switch banks was made by Government, through the Ministry of Economy.

She said Government invested a lot of money in the bank fee that was payable for keeping the accounts.

“It was a commercial decision made by Westpac and one that is also in favour of Government because we were able to secure a lower fee with BSP,” Ms Vuniwaqa said.

“BSP is more accessible as well compared to Westpac when we talk about branches and ATM for the benefit of our clients.”

She said recipients in maritime islands were not affected by the switch because they were paid manually through the Post Fiji.