PTAD launches digital self confirmation of aliveness for Pensioners on its database

In a bid to ameliorate the verification of pensioners and serve them better in Nigeria, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) on Tuesday launched the pilot phase of “I Am Alive”, confirmation project.

“I Am Alive” is a digital enrolment platform designed for pensioners to easily confirm their aliveness from the comfort of their homes or neighborhood using either a smart phone or a computer system.

Briefing Journalists at a press conference to unveil the platform in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of PTAD, Dr Chioma Ejikeme said 50,000 pensioners drawn from the four operational department namely, The Civil Service Pension Department, Police Pension Department, Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension Department and the Parastatals Pension Department in the six geopolitical zones will participate in this particular pilot phase scheduled to commence 14th October this year.

She added that the scheme will help address pension fraud as it will enable the Directorate eliminate ghost pensioners from its database.

Explaining the verification procedures, PTAD boss said the confirmation solution take the pensioner through a three step confirmation process that ends with a text message response.

According to her, the confirmation process begins with the identification of pensioner number and the pensioner bank account number. The next is to take a photograph which will be validated with the existing picture in PTAD database and lastly, the pensioner will perform the aliveness validation by moving his/her face to follow the moving object on the screen.

Dr Chioma assured that for security reasons the pensioners personal bank details such as BVN, ATM card details, ATM card pin will not be required.

She said: “pensioners who are part of this pilot phase have been notified by PTAD via SMS. Pensioners who did not receive the SMS, should kindly note that they are not part of the pilot phase, and would not gain access to the platform to confirm their aliveness at this time. All pensioners will be duly informed when the application is deployed on a full scale and is available for all pensioners.

“We use this opportunity to assure our esteemed pensioners that “I Am Alive” confirmation solution was designed with their utmost welfare in mind leveraging on accuracy, reliability, user friendliness and convenience. We had promised that the era of bringing out our aged pensioners for field verification is over, and we stand by our promise.

“Be rest assured that nobody can tamper with your pension payment through the “I Am Alive” platform. If anybody with a smartphone in the neighborhood helps you to confirm your aliveness, the person cannot steal your money. All we need is a confirmation that you are still alive so that we can continue to pay your pension” She added.

The PTAD boss however said on successful implementation of the pilot phase, the Directorate will deploy the application on a full scale at a predetermined intervals on a continuous basis for all verified pensioners on PTAD payroll.