Senior citizens in Samoa who use Digicel can now get their monthly $200 pension payment at the touch of a button and receive their money at the nearest Digicel Samoa outlet.

The ease of access for senior citizens comes courtesy of a partnership between Digicel Samoa and the Samoa National Provident Fund (S.N.P.F.) which was officially announced on Monday morning. 

Digicel Samoa C.E.O. Seiuli Deepak Khanna and the Fund's C.E.O. Pauli Prince Suhren hed a press conference on Monday morning to announce the partnership

They said the partnership is an incremental step in the digital transformation of the S.N.P.F. to mark 50 years of service to the country. 

Seiuli acknowledged Pauli and his staff for their dedication and commitment in strengthening the 16-year-old partnership between Digicel Samoa and S.N.P.F. 

"This is a big step into another journey with S.N.P.F. as we celebrate 50 years of its service to Samoa and our partnership for the last 16 years," Seiuli said. 

"We could not have picked a perfect partner for this as we share a common goal which is to give back to the community and do everything for the people of Samoa. 

"S.N.P.F. is where we can get and connect with people of the country and they have given back so much to the community and we are pleased to be in partnership with them for this initiative.

"For this initiative, we are utilising the Digicel MyCash app; which is not new as it used to be known as the Digicel Mobile money. 

"We feel that everything is moving forward with the advance technology we have and the platform it now offers for the people of Samoa, we need to utilise it so it's easier for our people to access different services."

According to the Digicel Samoa C.E.O. their new partnership with the S.N.P.F. allows the Fund's members who have registered and downloaded the Digicel MyCash app to make loan payments, as it enables them to make their social contribution to their employments and voluntary contributions. 

"And S.N.P.F. is now able to distribute pensions directly to the MyCash wallet and also allows you to E.P.C. payments using your phone," Seiuli said. 

"This will avoid the long lines we commonly see at S.N.P.F. and the different banks when it is time for pension pay out.

"This is going to save a lot of money and a lot of time from having to travel all the way to town to make payments."

Speaking on behalf of the S.N.P.F Board and staff on the usefulness of the new partnership, Pauli said there are two benefits of this partnership which is "time and cost."

"In this day and age where cost is going up everywhere, and it is very costly for you to travel from one place to another, this kind of service is something we need," Pauli said. 

"So for example, if you are someone from the rural area and you want to travel to town to make your payments or a contribution or to get your pension, you would need money for transportation to and from S.N.P.F. or the nearest bank.  

"But if you utilise your MyCash app with S.N.P.F. it's 32 seconds to use it and it only cost you 0.50 sene 

"Of course there is a freedom to all of our members and clients of Digicel to choose whether they would want to use this service but it is not only effective but also efficient compare to the time and the cost in traveling to a bank or to NPF."

The partnership according to Pauli is part of their digital transformation and the use of technology to save money and cost. 

"This partnership with Digicel is 16 years in the making and this is a step forward for us and our plans to use technology for our members and the people of Samoa. 

"This year 2022 is step change in the digital transformation here at N.P.F. If you recollect back in April, we introduced our online portal giving our members the opportunity to access their N.P.F. accounts and do small loans with the press of a button from your phone. 

"You can get your dividend at the press of a button from your mobile phone wherever you may be. There is no need for you to stand in line, that is a thing of the past. 

"So partnering with My Cash app with Digicel Samoa is an incremental step in that transformation process. 

"You can now do small loans and receive dividends electronically and also make contributions and receive your pensions electronically as well through My Cash. 

"We want to use technology to the best that we can to make it easier and efficient for our members. This is only the beginning. 

"We are working with the Central Bank as well in terms of other restrictions on the amount of money per transactions for each member so it's the start of a great partnership for the benefit of our members and the people of Samoa. 

"Later on this year, there's another step forward in our digital transformation, we will be launching our app and we have partnered up with UNDP to do that so all of these partnerships is for our people. It's for the people of Samoa. 

 "So we are very pleased to announce this good news this morning."

So they can register now on the first floor of the S.N.P.F. building to make it easier for them to get their pensions. 

Pauli urged pensioners of the country to register on the My Cash app so they can get their pensions pay out every month through the mobile wallet. 

The team at Digicel Samoa also showed a video demonstration with instructions on how to use the app, which can only take 32 seconds to make payments when used and only cost .50 sene for each transactions. 

The Digicel My Cash app is regulated by the Central Bank of Samoa like any other financial institution in the country and it's only for S.N.P.F. members with Digicel numbers.