Mobile App for Health Sector Occupational Pension Scheme
The Health Sector Occupational Pensions Scheme (HSOPS) has introduced a new mobile application that allows subscribers to track their second tier contributions.
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Known as the HSOPS App, it will enable contributors to monitor their contributions and management from the comfort of their homes, instead of visiting the offices of the fund managers.
The app has been designed to provide members with first-hand information on pensions and allows members to track their second tier contributions.
Embedded with member authentication features, the HSOPS App — which will operate on both android and iOS smartphones — will empower subscribers to make basic enquiries for support, ensuring an efficient channel of seeking assistance.
Personalised portal
At the launch of the app at Senchi, near Akosombo, in the Eastern Region last Wednesday, the Chairman of the HSOPS Board of Trustees, Dr Derek Amoateng, described the HSOPS App as a personalised portal that would ensure a seamless membership management and instant access to subscribers’ pension account,
“It is a personalised portal and members could download their statement and delve into detailed records at their convenience,” he stressed.
He was optimistic that the new mobile app would help leadership reach out to all the 227,000 contributors within Ghana and engage with them on the management of their contributions.
Strides
Dr Amoateng said the scheme, made up primarily of health sector workers in the public sector, had made significant strides since it started operations in 2012.
He said the scheme had done this through the retirement income benefit for subscribers through structures that would engage and bring together all health sector workers so they could retire comfortably.
Also, HSOPS launched a website five years ago as part of its efforts to provide members of the scheme with concrete information and give them access to track their pension contributions.
However, with a significant increase in access to mobile devices, the Board of Trustees introduced the mobile app to save contributors time and money to access information on their contributions and to track their funds.
The Secretary of the HSOPS Board of Trustees, Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, said the main objective of the scheme was to provide employees with a means of income replacement on retirement and guarantee their dependents income support in the event of death while in service.
Trailblazer
The Managing Director of Enterprise Trustees Limited, Joseph Ampofo, described the HSOPS as a trailblazer among the Public Sector Schemes and commended them for the pioneering role they played in securing the future of their members.
He said for a scheme that was worth almost GH¢ 4 billion, it was their firm view that such innovations would not only enable members to track their contributions via the mobile phone, but also push the scheme further to higher heights to bring relief and comfort to contributors in their retirement.
Functionality
At the launch of the scheme, the Akwamu Kronti Adontinhene and Akosombohene, Nana Ansa Prem IV, who was Guest of Honour at the occasion, applauded the Board of Trustees of the HSOPS for their initiative in providing members with first-hand information on pensions and also giving access to members to track their second tier contributions.
He expressed the hope that managers of the scheme would expand on the innovation by building an offline functionality into HSOPS mobile app to ensure that the system remained accessible and useful, regardless of internet connectivity in remote communities with health workers who were members of the scheme.
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