No fewer than 168,768 workers have changed their Pension Fund Administrators and moved N663.761bn Retirement Savings Accounts since the National Pension Commission opened the window of transfer.
The window of transfer allowed workers to move their savings from a PFA to another of their choice once a year.
PenCom disclosed the transfers in its ‘Quarterly summary of Retirement Savings Accounts transferred by Pension Fund Administrators’ from the fourth quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2023.
According to PenCom, 24,963 workers moved N111.67bn in the first quarter of 2023.
The figures disclosed that 2,799 contributors moved N18.9bn in the fourth quarter of 2020; 12,681 contributors moved N47.78bn in the first quarter of 2021; 10,166 moved N35.89bn in the second quarter of 2021; 12,872 contributors moved N45.56bn in the third quarter of 2021; while 12,874 contributors moved N42.49bn in the fourth quarter of 2021.
It added that 12,336 contributors moved N36.36bn in the first quarter of 2022; 14,821 moved N50.22bn in the second quarter of 2022; 30,973 moved N143.1bn in the third quarter of 2022; while 34,283 moved N131.76bn in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Section 13 of the Pension Reform Act 2014 specifies that a Retirement Savings Account holder may transfer his RSA from one PFA to another.
It added that such transfer should not be more than once a year.
The pension industry regulator stated that PFAs must only process requests for RSA holders registered on the Enhanced Contributor Registration System and those whose recaptured information had been successfully uploaded onto the ECRS.
“PFAs shall only process RSA transfer requests for eligible RSA holders who have not transferred their RSAs within the last 365 days using the RTS, irrespective of whether it is a leap year or not,” it stated.
PenCom opened the transfer window in November 2020, which allowed contributors to change their PFAs.
“Effective transfer of RSAs from one PFA to another requires an accurate and reliable database as it is important to ensure that the pension assets transferred belong to the bona-fide RSA holders initiating the transfers,” it said.
PenCom noted that the opening of the RSA transfer window was done after it ensured that robust IT infrastructure to drive the process was put in place.
It said the process was finalised in June 2019 with the deployment of an enhanced contributor registration system for the pension industry.
The pension regulator said the ECRS incorporated extensive validations, controls and data requirements that would deliver high data integrity standards for the pension industry.
It added that the upgrade of RSA holders’ details to meet the ECRS standards was a prerequisite for RSA transfers.
SOURCE: THE PUNCH
