Life is getting better for Maxwell Chikopa of Kazombo Village, Traditional Authority Mkhumba in Phalombe District.
The man born with a physical disability no longer walks over 10 kilometres to get his monthly social cash transfers.
The pay-outs go straight to his mobile phone, thanks to an electronic payment system.
“I solely depend on the Social Cash Transfer Programme to support my family of three,” he says. “Previously, I used to endure long travels and wait for hours for the cashiers to bring the money. Crossing the rough terrain on crutches was not just tiring but painful.”
Chikopa and other recipients no longer abandon their chores to queue for the monthly social cash transfers.
“Even my relatives no longer leave their work to escort me to the paypoints,” he says.
The beneficiaries of the State-run social protection now access their social cash transfers wherever and whenever they want
“Mobile money is safe, easy and convenient. I no longer worry about long distances or queues,” Chikopa says. “Electronic payments have brought a sense of dignity to the programme. We used to endure degrading remarks from people we met on the way or in the queue.”
The new arrangement allows recipients to cash out part of the monthly sum and save the remainder for later use.
George Mofolo, a beneficiary with visual impairment, from Mulonya Village in the area, shares similar joy.
“I find it easy to cash out part of my money and save the remainder for another day,” he says.
Mofolo no longer requires his relatives to escort him to distant pay points to access his social cash transfers.
The mobile money agents in rural settings bolster the ease for social cash transfer recipients to get their money when they needs it.
This also means more business for the Airtel Money and TNM Mpamba agents, who get commissions for every transaction.
On her part, mobile money agent Winnie Maliro says the switch to electronic payments has increased customers for her business.
“Business has improved since the beneficiaries started receiving electronic payments. I receive a lot of customers daily, especially social cash transfer recipients. Some withdraw everything at once, but many save part of it for a lean day,” she narrates.
KfW, a German development bank, supports the Social Cash Transfer Programme which benefits 10 278 vulnerable households in Phalombe District. Three cohorts have benefitted since 2018.
Phalombe district social welfare officer Fackson Chidzalo says the electronic payment system has reduced the workload of the district council’s workforce.
With manual payments, most council officials were frequently out in the field disbursing the pay-outs.
“Now we are saving time and resources for the council to concentrate on our core duties,” says Chidzalo. “We used to spend days in the field while our workload piled up.”
