Sigma introduces electronic pension contribution system

Sigma Pensions, one of the Pension Fund Administrators operating in the country, has introduced the Electronic Pension Contribution Collection System to facilitate the smooth remittance of workers’ pension contributions.

The Head, Contribution Processing, Sigma Pensions, Mrs. Lanike Fadairo, said this during a training workshop for employers doing business with the firm in Lagos.

“The EPCCOS is a contribution collection system, which tracks monthly employee pension remittance schedules produced by the employers for the PFAs and records matching payments to the custodial accounts of the employees’ PFAs uniquely,” she said.

According to Fadairo, the system is an electronic information repository that provides a uniform method of coordinating the pension remittance process and information for the employer, the fund administrator and the custodian.

The objectives of the EPCCOS, she explained included ensuring appropriate capturing, reporting and reconciliation of monthly pension payments by employees and creating a central database for monthly pension payment schedule.

According to her, the EPCCOS entrenches the principle of transparency and accountability as reflected in the reporting requirements of the PFAs and Pension Fund Custodians.

Fadairo said the system was relevant to avoid difficulty in reconciling contributions and payment schedules as well as conveniently and securely fulfilling organised pension remittance obligations from the comfort of the office.

She said it provided a central database and tracking system for all contributory pension data under the new pension scheme for easy access by all stakeholders, and enforced a collection standard among PFAs and the employers they managed.

Some of the features of the EPCCOS, she added, were secure web-based platform, accessibility to all employers over the Internet, quick and easy self service set up for employers’ profile, direct user management by employer administrators, schedule and payment tracking, and smart e-mail notification of activities.

[Punch]