The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has set 1st June as the deadline for employers to fully transition to a newly introduced pension remittance system. The announcement was made on Thursday in Abuja during the unveiling of the new pension contribution remittance platform.
PenCom said in a statement that the new system aims to streamline the remittance process for pension contributions into employees’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs). The initiative, developed in collaboration with the Pension Operators’ Association of Nigeria (PenOp), seeks to address long-standing issues such as uncredited contributions and delays in verification by Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs).
“The introduction of this system is crucial due to persistent challenges faced by employers, including errors in contribution schedules and verification delays,” PenCom stated. “These issues have resulted in uncredited pension contributions, which pose a risk to employees’ retirement savings.”
The commission noted that the new system incorporates approved Payment Solution Service Providers (PSSPs) to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and transparency. Employers and contributors must strictly adhere to the framework to prevent the accumulation of unallocated funds in employees’ RSAs.
One major challenge preventing PFAs from crediting employees’ accounts has been incorrect or incomplete information provided by employers. “The inability of PFAs to process pension contributions due to documentation errors has been a major concern, and urgent action is needed to resolve this,” the commission added.
With the deployment of PSSPs, the new remittance process will now feature automatic validation of Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) of RSA holders against the PenCom database, eliminating errors that previously caused delays in crediting pension contributions.
PenCom highlighted that incomplete documentation from employers has been a key factor in uncredited contributions, hindering PFAs from processing funds correctly. “The new system includes features designed to ensure seamless operations, including mechanisms to prevent errors in remittance schedules, thereby reducing discrepancies between reported contributions and actual payments,” the statement read.
The platform will also verify employee details with PenCom’s database before processing transactions, significantly reducing administrative delays. Employers will now have access to multiple approved PSSPs, allowing them to choose providers based on service speed, reliability, and accessibility.
The commission listed the approved PSSPs, which include PAYPEN by Netline Limited, PENCENTRAL by Chams Access Limited, PENSPHERE (formerly PAYTHRU) by Pethahiah Rehoboth Int’l Limited, PENREMIT by Cyberspace Limited, PENSOL by Uniswitch Technology Limited, ENCO by Gemspay Solutions Limited, AWABAH by Awabah Remit Services Limited, PCOSS by Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement Systems Plc, and INTERSWITCH by Interswitch Group.
According to PenCom, these platforms support various online payment options, enabling employers to make instant contributions to employees’ RSAs. It assured employers that adopting the new system would not attract additional costs.
“This initiative is expected to encourage greater compliance while improving the efficiency of pension remittances,” PenCom stated.
