Pan Asia Bank accepts beneficiary finger print...
In line with the manifesto of the new government, ‘Vision for Prosperity’, which promotes use of technology to enhance efficiency in state sector, the Pensions Department reached another landmark milestone recently with the introduction of a facility that enables pensioners to use their fingerprint instead of the tedious process of having to provide a life certificate.
Obtaining the annual life certificate is considered as an important component in regulating the process of payment of pensions. The main objective of this process is verifying the pensioner’s details and minimising the overpayments caused by not informing the Pensions Department the demise of the pensioner.
The period from January 1 to March 31 every year has been designated as the period of obtaining pensioner life certificates. In 2020, it is expected that 6,410,000 pensioners scattered islandwide will be required to furnish Pensioner Life Certificates through their respective Grama Niladharis after verifying their addresses.
Therefore, all pensioners will be mailed applications for pensioner life certificates and that application has to be completed, certified by the Grama Niladhari and sent to the Divisional Secretariat, which is a costly and time-consuming exercise.
Under the new method, the opportunity has been given for pensioners to place their finger print at any of the designated places equipped with an electronic device to capture same, which will be accepted as equivalent to submission of a life certificate. Accordingly, under the first stage, this methodology is to be made available for the pensioners who have retired after January 1, 2016.
During the initial phase, pensioners were given the opportunity of obtaining the relevant facility from any Divisional Secretariat and as the second stage of this programme, the pensioners will be given the opportunity to place their finger print at permitted branches of state and private banks as well.
Accordingly, Pan Asia Bank made history on February 13, 2020 when it became the first bank permitted to provide this facility to the pensioner community. Initially, this facility will be provided to the pensioner community through 40 selected branches of Pan Asia Bank scattered all over the island and in the next stage, this facility will be provided through all 85 branches of the Pan Asia Bank to over 78,000 pensioners throughout Sri Lanka who retired after January 1, 2016.
The launch of this programme was officially held at the Maharagama branch of the Pan Asia Bank under the aegis of Pensions Director General Jagath Dias and Pan Asia Bank Chief Executive Officer Nimal Tillekeratne in the presence of a large gathering of pensioners.
Furthermore, this project was initiated in parallel to the 25th anniversary of Pan Asia Bank, which as a truly Sri Lankan bank, remains firmly committed to uplift the living standards of all Sri Lankans alike through its products and services.