SEA moving 5 000 beneficiaries to direct deposits

The Social Empowerment Agency (SEA) is moving about 5 000 National Assistance Grant beneficiaries from cheques to direct deposits, Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Adrian Forde announced on Friday.

The move follows a recent cheque-printing issue which inconvenienced some SEA clients in accessing their assistance.

Forde told a press conference that the government can no longer operate in an “anachronistic way”.

The SEA – which has amalgamated the former welfare and child care agencies – will actively roll out direct payments over the next couple of months, stressing that the move is the “right” and “appropriate” thing to do.

“We are simply telling Barbadians, irrespective of their banking institution. We are here willing, ready and able to work with you so that there will be a seamless transition,” said Forde, who also encouraged the use of BimPay, the Central Bank’s national payment platform.

He told reporters: “There’s not a hard and fast decision in terms of when we will operationalise it. We are going to give Barbadians time to be part of the whole process. We have created a barcode system and an e-link/digital link so that persons can register. What we’ll be asking persons over the next couple of weeks to do is to fill out a form that will be generated. It will be posted to every single one of our clients so that their information can be held within the strictest of confidence that is expected with this type of transition”

The minister sought to assure SEA clients that there would not be a strict deadline to make the transition.

“I just wanted to tell Barbadians we are not putting a set time frame to have this; we are encouraging Barbadians to partner with us in this process. We’re not telling them within the next couple of weeks that it has to be, then they have to have an e-banking system. We are saying to them, come in if they have any issues. We are willing to work with them with their issues.”

SEA senior accountant Brian Layne explained that from as early as next week, clients should expect to receive “two pieces of correspondence in the mail, one with the intention to transition from the cheque to the deposits, and another correspondence with the banking information which should be filled out…or in soft copy there will be a QR code as well attached to the banking form. For those persons who are tech savvy, they can fill out the form online or for the persons who require this hard copy, they can fill it out and drop it off at any of the SEA locations which would be Southern Plaza, Six Roads, or Benthams [in St Lucy]”.

Provisions will be made for those who require assistance filling out the banking form at any SEA branch office, he added.

SEA Director RoseAnn Richards stressed that the process is specifically for people receiving National Assistance Grants, but once successfully executed, the e-banking option may be extended to those receiving educational assistance.

Richards said: “The only other programme where persons may be in receipt of assistance to purchase Items would be our educational assistance programme, but this is the start. If along the way, once we’ve done the transition with this programme and it is possible it could be extended, I see no reason why we wouldn’t want to go in that direction.

“But for right now, the concentration is transitioning those 5 000-plus beneficiaries of national assistance grants who would have been receiving them by cheques to have direct deposits to their bank account, once all the banking information is provided to us and the financial institution that they’re working with.”

Forde, who expressed hopes that the transition is completed by December, said the SEA would also work with banks and credit unions to create accounts for unbanked clients.

“I would love if every single one could be at that stage by the end of December, the end of the year. 

“We know that there are still a few people who might not have Internet banking or might not have either a banking account. We will be working with banking institutions, which shall be identified by our client because it’s client specific. So the choice is up to the client and we will do our part as the ministry to write letters, etcetera.”

Those who are uncomfortable with e-banking can visit any of the locations for a one-on-one conversation, he  added.

Network Administrator Jerome Phillips gave the assurance that the database will be encrypted, with information “hashed and sorted”.

He said: “The database that the information will be stored in will be encrypted whereas all information will be hashed and sorted, therefore any [unauthorised] person trying to access the information will not be able to read the information basically.”

The minister also suggested that direct deposits could help reduce the stigma associated with being a welfare beneficiary.

“If this transition happens and the intention is that it would be a seamless transition, the associated stigma of being a beneficiary of welfare once the money goes into your bank account, nobody would know that it’s a welfare check that you’re getting, so that stigma could be diminished over a period of time.”

(LG)