Nsanje district social welfare officer responsible for Social Cash Transfer Programme Abdulrazak Duwa has expressed optimism that the introduction of electronic payments (e-payment) will make transactions secure and efficient.
Previously, the programme’s beneficiaries were receiving their stipend at a designated place which exposed beneficiaries and council officials handling huge sums of money to the risk of being robbed.
Speaking in an interview on Monday, Duwa said the beneficiaries will now get money through their phones and cash it out at their convenience.
“The cost of processing transactions will reduce and beneficiaries will get their money at once unlike under the manual payment where we could spend days disbursing payments,” he said.
Duwa also said the initiative will promote mobile money business opportunities in the district.
In random interviews, the beneficiaries also expressed excitement with the migration from manual to digital payment.
Chilumba Social Cash Transfer Cluster chairperson
Charles Theka said the transition to digital payment will improve security.
“In the past, the whole village could know when beneficiaries received their money. This increased the risk of theft or begging beneficiaries some money. Yet, the money was meant to improve their livelihood,” he said.
A beneficiary Tobias Thenford from Mphamba Village in Traditional Authority Ngabu said the new system will reduce challenges related to time and cost they incurred when travelling to get their payment.
“It was a question of spending money to go and get money. At the end of the day, the money we received was used to repay transport,” he said.
The programme is a component of the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Programme and it is targeting 7 000 beneficiaries in the district.
