NRB pens e-payment deal to ease IDs application

National Registration Bureau (NRB) has signed a pact with NBS Bank which will see national identity (ID) cards applicants pay fees electronically, effectively shortening the queues in registration centres.

The two parties signed the deal in Lilongwe on Friday.

Through the partnership, NBS Bank will be offering applicants a chance to pay IDs processing fee through their mobile money service or directly at its centres.

NRB Principal Secretary Mphatso Sambo said the arrangement will ensure that applicants pay at their convenient time and also cut costs.

“For one to get their national ID the first step they have to come to NRB and others travel long distances to collect the registration forms. After that, they go back, fill the forms and come back to deliver the forms.

“NRB’s mandate is not to collect the cash. So, they have to go to the Treasury cashier and usually there are no cashiers near our offices.

“Apart from travelling,  they are queuing all the time. This is 2023 and digitisation is the agenda of the government that’s why we have come up with the e-payment innovation,” he said.

NRB has been accused of slowing the IDs processing with some Malawians going months without securing theirs.

It has resulted in challenges to access bank services, relief food and subsidised fertilisers in some cases.

Sambo acknowledged that they have letting down the citizens but hoped that the interventions they have put in place will ensure efficiency.

“We have also tweaked our registration software. Right now, instead of taking about 40 minutes, to register one client, it is taking just three minutes.

“So, you can imagine, with three minutes registration time and paying through the electronic system, you can imagine how many Malawians we can serve in a day,” he added.

Meanwhile, NBS Bank head of corporate and investment banking Alfred Nhlema said they have set up a system where those who do not have bank accounts will be able to access ID e-payment services.

He said: “If you are not banking with NBS, we are able to create wallets through our platforms so that anyone who has got a phone can access the wallet which you can use to access NRB services.”