HARARE – The National Building Society (NBS) has opened a branch at Harare’s Social Security Centre to exclusively serve pensioners during pay-out days.
To be opened for five days each month, the centre is already proving to be a novel intervention as it allows the elderly to be served without having to worry about being caught up in the hustle and bustle with other customers.
It opened its doors to the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) pensioners on Friday last week, and was dispensing up to US$100 and bond notes, much to the delight of pensioners.
Upon its opening, the branch served 2,500 pensioners, while Saturday saw customers being cleared by 9.30am, well within the bank’s trading hours.
On Monday the 16th of July, NBS tellers had served all pensioners by 10.30am.
NBS managing director, LameckDanga, said the society, which is wholly-owned by NSSA, was committed to serving pensioners within the shortest possible time, adding that the pilot branch in Harare would be replicated across the regions.
As such, an NBS team from Chinhoyi branch paid-out pensioners from the NSSA sub-office.
“NBS was specifically set up to provide financial solutions to those who contribute to NSSA and this includes pensioners, many of whom were pioneers of the social security scheme. We are therefore focused on ensuring that pensioners are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.
“Ultimately, we encourage pensioners to subscribe to mobile money so that they can link their NBS accounts to their mobile wallets and eliminate the need to visit banking halls to withdraw cash on a monthly basis,” said Danga. – News Day
