Cairo: The Ministry of Finance is set to introduce a system to facilitate the electronic payment of pensions nationwide over the coming year, following a successful trial program at three locations in the capital. The electronic payment system will allow pensioners to withdraw their monthly retirement funds at offices around the country anytime within three months of issue. In a statement, the Ministry announced that it would distribute 20,103 e-cards to eligible retirees in Greater Cairo this month, followed by 30,117 more in June and 40,486 in July. According to Mohamed Ahmed Meit, assistant finance minister, an initial 27 payment outlets in Cairo and Alexandria will be extended over the next three months to include 53 insurance offices and 92 disbursement facilities covering all governorates. Retirees will benefit from the more flexible withdrawal options offered by the new system. Under the current disbursement system, pensioners are confined to collecting their monthly payments during limited hours at local disbursement offices, facing long lines and inconvenience. According to Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros-Ghali, the new system is intended to streamline this process and facilitate the efficient payment of pensions. The ministry is working with social security funds to train cashiers to process the new cards, and with banks to implement plans for pension withdrawals at cash machines around Egypt. According to Meit, the state pension fund recently opened an account with the Arab Banking Corporation to allow the distribution of pensions through the bank's cash machines around the country. The new system will impact over 3 million retirees across the country as it expands to full capacity over the next year. The electronic payment of pensions is the first phase in a larger plan to incorporate electronic payment services into all sectors of the government. The government is currently working on expanding its electronic capacity through a joint venture with the National Investment Bank, Raya Holding, National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, and the Egyptian Banks Company known as "e-finance . The project is focused on establishing a National Electronic Payment Hub, which will allow for both the expansion of e-payment services to the public and for more efficient information sharing between ministries, banks and utilities. Eventually, the Hub will be used by all parties paying or receiving funds from the Egyptian government. The project is currently in the early phases of implementation. E-finance's first success was the payment of 293 pensioners through the system in mid-March. This achievement has been built upon quickly with this most recent expansion of electronic pension cards around Cairo, and is set to expand rapidly in the coming months.
