July 10, 2020
Baptist Union stands against electronic disbursement of Old Age Pension benefits
The Jamaica Baptist Union (JBU) is challenging the decision of Government to disburse monthly benefits to all NIS Old Age pensioners through commercial banks.
Under the NIS Old Age Pension Scheme, the majority of beneficiaries receive vouchers for encashment at a Post Office or branches of the National Commercial Bank. But the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) recently decided that NIS pensioners are expected to have bank accounts to continue receiving their monthly payments.
However, the JBU, the third largest denomination in Jamaica, has written to the Minister of Labour and Social Security, appealing to him to rescind this decision, noting that it places the majority of the older pensioners at a serious disadvantage.
JBU General Secretary, Karl Johnson, over whose signature the letter is written, says that the financial situation of many of its members makes it almost impossible for them to incur further costs by opening and maintaining bank accounts, especially in light of the exorbitant fees charged by commercial banks for servicing those accounts.
“We strongly urge that they be not forced to open a bank account in this situation…For many of our senior citizens, the NIS Old Age pension cannot meet their needs; and the church, in a large number of cases, is their sole safety net”, the General Secretary writes.
The JBU has also bolstered its argument by suggesting to the Minister that he could have such persons submit a certification from a JP or their Pastor attesting to their inability to afford the cost of maintaining a bank account, because many of them are ‘existing’ way below the poverty line.
At its General Assembly in February 2020, the 40,000 strong Baptist Union passed a unanimous resolution against what it called ‘unjust banking fees charged by commercial banks’. The Union then asserted that the ‘old age pensioners under the NIS Act, 1965, would be penalized if they were obliged to open bank accounts in order to receive the already meagre benefits.
It was for this reason that the General Assembly, the highest decision making body in the JBU, threw its weight of support behind the Banking Services Amendment Bill tabled in Parliament by Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Fitz Jackson. According to the Assembly, the Bill protects pensioners and others against unjust and unreasonable bank charges.
The Union has also written to NCB’s Michael Lee Chin asking him to lead in adopting procedures, which would exempt from banking charges, “the most vulnerable group of senior citizens whose primary income is the National Insurance ‘Old Age Pension’ payment.”
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