From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
Gibson launches National Insurance SmartCard
By Gena Gibbs, BIS
May 23, 2014 - 11:46:42 AM
Minister of Labour, National Insurance, and the Public Service, the Hon Shane Gibson, displays the new new National Insurance card, which is supposed to be a SmartCard, and able to store information from various departments within National Insurance. (BIS Photo/Raymond Bethel)
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Nassau, The Bahamas -- SmartCards for National Insurance contributors, designed to simplify the process of claiming benefits from beneficiary accounts, are the newest solution for easily identifying claimants, Minister of Labour, National Insurance, and the Public Service, the Hon Shane Gibson, announced on May 20. Minister Gibson highlighted additional changes at National Insurance, as the Ministry continues to create a viral presence and is offering services online.
"Today, we are pleased to launch our new National Insurance card, which is supposed to be a SmartCard, able to store information from various departments within National Insurance. And also, one of the things we are considering as well is because of the biometric use of it, is to allow it to be used as a national identity card," said Minister Gibson.
"We've not gotten approval from Cabinet yet, but it's something we're looking at. This is just the first phase of launching this card. As you know, up until now, this is the card that everyone got used to receiving from National Insurance, once you became a participant of the National Insurance Board.
Today, we are launching a fully protected card, which would make it more difficult for individuals to use it in a fraudulent way," said Minister Gibson. Minister Gibson said it was something that National Insurance ought to be congratulated on, in light that over the years the Ministry has been working hard to make National Insurance more responsive to the demands and needs of their customers. He said they want to continue to make National Insurance the envy of what the Public Service is all about. He added that over the past couple of years, they have concentrated more on being more customer service driven, where they are not satisfied, unless the customers are satisfied.
"It was earlier this year when we launched our online campaign, where contributors of National Insurance are now able to go online, and monitor their contributions, to see what contributions were made on their behalf, and to really keep them updated as to whether they, particularly in the sense, where they want to claim, they're unable to claim, simply because their contributions are not properly updated or were not made by their employers," said Minister Gibson.
Minister Gibson said National Insurance is a dynamic organisation with many things going on. He said the Ministry installs systems today that almost become obsolete within weeks after installing them. He said the foundation of National Insurance was to provide a short term or long term benefit, a salary replacement, in times of industrial accidents, maternity, and sickness, as well as pensions for long term beneficiaries.
The process for a new National Insurance Board (NIB) SmartCard has started in Freeport. James Winter, the Senior Manager of National Insurance for Grand Bahama said, "This is a one-day process so persons don't have to wait long." He said for quicker service applicants must bring identification, which may include; a passport, voter's card or a driver's license." The NIB office will be open starting May 21 to May 27, 2014 from 8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. weekdays and on Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. NIB employees are pictured processing an applicant for the new card. (BIS Photo/Vandyke Hepburn)
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