The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) is moving toward a more fully digital system, with the government urging thousands of pensioners still collecting their benefits through traditional methods to switch to direct bank payments.
At the NIS’s 57th anniversary observance on September 16, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, said more than 20,000 pensioners are now receiving their pensions directly into bank accounts, compared with just over 11,000 in 2020.
However, Singh said more than 40,000 pensioners have yet to make the transition.
He urged those with bank accounts to consider direct deposits, arguing that the arrangement would eliminate the expense and inconvenience associated with travelling to collect pension books and cashing vouchers.
“You could be saving yourself the financial cost and the inconvenience associated with physically going to collect a pension book and associated with physically going to encash a pension voucher, by taking the simple step of getting your pension paid into your bank account.”
The minister said the government intends to digitise all NIS processes, allowing pensioners, workers, employers and self-employed contributors to interact with the Scheme remotely.
Under the planned system, people would be able to register digitally, submit contributions and claims, check contribution records and track the progress of claims without visiting an NIS office.
Singh said pensioners would also be able to submit their Life Certificates electronically, including through WhatsApp, with payments deposited directly into their bank accounts.
“You must be able to apply for a registration digitally. You must be able to, if you’re an employer or a self-employed person, submit your monthly returns digitally. You must be able to pay your contributions digitally. You must be able to check your NIS contribution record from the convenience of your home, digitally…”
From Pension Books to Digital Payments
The planned transformation follows other changes introduced by NIS this year. In June, the Scheme expanded payment options for pensioners who receive vouchers, allowing them to cash benefits through Bill Express, MoneyGram and Mobile Money Guyana.
At that time, NIS reported that direct bank payments had risen from 11,932 pensioners in 2020 to 24,415 in 2026, while approximately 39,000 pensioners continued to collect physical pension books.
The NIS has also been encouraging contributors to monitor their contribution records before reaching retirement age. Singh urged workers to ensure employers are remitting deductions on their behalf and to obtain contribution statements regularly.
He also called on NIS to provide employers with annual statements showing the workers for whom contributions were paid.
Scheme Established in 1969
The NIS was established under the National Insurance and Social Security Act of 1969, which created a national system of social insurance covering benefits including old-age, invalidity, survivors’, sickness, maternity and funeral benefits. The Act was enacted on August 16, 1969, and contributions to the Scheme commenced on September 29 of that year.
The Scheme was established during the administration of Prime Minister Forbes Burnham and his People’s National Congress-led government. Its creation placed Guyana among the Caribbean countries developing national social security systems at the time. The NIS itself notes that when the Scheme was established in September 1969, only Jamaica and Barbados had national schemes in the Caribbean.
More than five decades later, the government is seeking to move the institution away from paper-based processes and physical queues.
Singh said the push is part of a broader financial-inclusion policy aimed at increasing access to banking and electronic payments.
“Because increasingly, that’s the direction in which we are going: the use of bank accounts and the use of digital technology to execute payments instantaneously.”
He also called on NIS employees to maintain citizen-friendly services, saying the government has “a zero policy” for services that are not citizen-friendly.
The anniversary observance included long-service awards for NIS employees and bursary awards for students who excelled in the CSEC and CAPE examinations.
