BISP Sahulat Account to Directly Transfer Funds to Beneficiaries Bank Accounts
The Benazir Income Support Program is one of the heaviest initiatives Pakistan took in its financial support to the poor, targeting women in particular. Recently, the BISP Sahulat Account has taken one of the most revolutionary steps by establishing a system whereby its beneficiaries will be able to receive funds into their bank accounts. Introduced in 2008, BISP is Pakistan’s flagship social protection program initiated with the focus of reducing poverty and providing monetary support to the majority of the poorer sections of society. Starting with 7 million families initially targeted, the program has now reached over 9 million families, providing them with cash transfers for all their basic needs. Over the years, the program has undertaken reforms numerous times to enhance its efficiency and transparency.
بینظیر انکم سپورٹ پروگرام (BISP) پاکستان کا سب سے بڑا سماجی تحفظ کا منصوبہ ہے، جو 2008 میں غربت کم کرنے اور مالی مدد فراہم کرنے کے لیے شروع کیا گیا، خاص طور پر خواتین کو۔ ابتدا میں 70 لاکھ خاندانوں کو ہدف بنایا گیا تھا، لیکن اب یہ تعداد 90 لاکھ سے تجاوز کر چکی ہے، جنہیں بنیادی ضروریات کے لیے نقد رقوم فراہم کی جاتی ہیں۔ حال ہی میں، بی آئی ایس پی نے ایک بینکنگ نظام متعارف کرایا ہے تاکہ مستحقین براہ راست فنڈز وصول کر سکیں۔ اس کی شفافیت اور مؤثریت کو بہتر بنانے کے لیے وقتاً فوقتاً اصلاحات کی گئی ہیں۔
The Need for Change
The disbursal of money under BISP had historically proved to be quite challenging, in a number of ways:
- Inefficiency: The traditional methods that are backed up by money orders or biometric verification systems tend to cause undue delay and inconvenience for the beneficiary.
- Transparency Issue: The credibility in the program was dented mainly due to the possible fund mismanagement and misuse that were issues of transparency.
- Limited Access: In fact, funds were denied to most recipients due to inadequate physical access or an absence of banking infrastructures at times even because of geographical areas.
- These issues compelled the government along with the State Bank of Pakistan to reassess the payment mechanism for BISP beneficiaries.
Benazir Income Support Program New Payment Mechanism
The newly created payment mechanism allows BISP beneficiaries to open a “BISP Sahulat Account“ with the earmarked bank. The policy is a part of Pakistan’s digitized financial service policy and aims to get more women into the fold of the financial world.
Important Announcement
اگر آپ اس پروگرام میں اپلائی کرنے کے لیے ہماری خدمات حاصل کرنا چاہتے ہیں تو اس نمبر پر رابطہ کریں
📱 WhatsApp: 03201095875
اپلائی کرنے کے چارجز 99 روپے ہیں۔ شکریہ
Implementation Phases
The new system will be implemented in phases as follows:
- Pilot Launch: The pilot must start its operations in cities like Karachi and Lahore, with a count of almost 300,000 beneficiaries. This will allow the pilot to study potential bottlenecks and areas of improvements before spreading it across the country.
- National Roll Out: Once the pilot is successfully completed, the Benazir Income Support Program will be launched in other cities of Pakistan, thereby making easy access of every eligible beneficiary to his money.
- Process for Opening Account: Beneficiaries can open their accounts in one visit to linked bank branches. SBP has liaised with banks to ensure that beneficiaries are mapped onto branches nearest to them for easier access.
Financial participation and Empowerment
The most obvious goal of this process, however, is actually increasing financial access for women. Their acquiring direct payments directly into accounts will give them greater control over their money. This is an extremely essential empowerment for a society often economically excludes women.
Why Direct Transfers Are Being Implemented
As decided by the President Asif Ali Zardari, moves are taken to shift the direct bank transfers from BISP. In this regard, State Bank of Pakistan shows its cooperation with this policy and procedure, the intermediaries and unauthorized deductions will be avoided by this measure, and funds will reach those who are in need of them.
Benazir Income Support Program Benefits of Direct Transfers
- Increased Efficiency: The BISP will transfer funds directly into BISP Sahulat Account. This will help make the disbursement process more efficient, which otherwise would have been associated with long lines and logistical challenges for the distribution of cash.
- Transparency Advantages: The new system is likely to enhance transparency in fund disbursement as well. As far as direct transfers are concerned, there is limited space for misappropriation or manipulation of funds, which makes it highly accountable
- Financial Literacy and Independence: By frequent use of banking services, the more the individual would have a chance to better his or her financial behavior. The banks can provide training courses on prudent money management that will have a multiplier effect towards higher economic empowerment of women.
بی آئی ایس پی کے ذریعے براہ راست رقوم کی منتقلی کارکردگی میں بہتری لاتی ہے، کیونکہ یہ لمبی قطاروں اور نقد رقم کی تقسیم سے جڑے انتظامی مسائل کو کم کرتی ہے۔ یہ نظام شفافیت کو بھی بڑھاتا ہے، کیونکہ فنڈز کی خرد برد یا غلط استعمال کے امکانات کم ہو جاتے ہیں، جس سے احتساب کو یقینی بنایا جاتا ہے۔ مزید برآں، یہ مالی خواندگی اور خودمختاری کو فروغ دیتا ہے، کیونکہ مستحقین بینکنگ خدمات استعمال کر کے اپنے مالی رویے کو بہتر بنا سکتے ہیں۔ بینک بہتر مالی نظم و نسق کی تربیت فراہم کر سکتے ہیں، جو خواتین کی معاشی خودمختاری میں مدد دے گی۔
Mobile registration vans for inaccessible areas
Other important features of this new initiative are the setting up of Mobile Registration Vans, to be dispatched to far-flung places. These vans would be taken to remote corners so that women would not have to travel long distances to get registered to avail services at the BISP offices.
Secure account opening procedures
A secure framework for securing on-boarding of Benazir Income Support Program beneficiaries at the State Bank of Pakistan was developed.
- The bank would acquire all relevant information regarding name, CNIC number, and residential address from the beneficiary and run checks through NADRA database for authentic and accurate verification.
- Biometric verification is conducted at the branch with liveness checks when a beneficiary visits for account opening. This has helped establish the identity of the beneficiary and denies access to accounts by anyone else.
Controlled Account Feature
To enhance security, BISP accounts have some restrictions on which ways they can be accessed.
- Inactive Accounts Newly opened accounts are inactive and debit-blocked until the activation process is complete on the part of the beneficiary. There will be no unauthorized transaction at all before proper verification is completed.
- The accounts would be prepared as limited mandate accounts, mainly so as to receive BISP funds, where funds can only be spent in a manner such that they are spent only on the intended purpose.
Data Protection Measures
In return, the financial institutions have to adhere strictly to requirements on protecting personal data against cyber instructions by safeguarding information. These include:
- Encryption: All information considered sensitive, such as accounts and personal information, will be encrypted in transit and at rest, thus not being accessed by any unauthorized party.
- Access Control: Only authorized persons will access beneficiary data, and sensitive information is not exposed unnecessarily.
مالیاتی اداروں کو ذاتی معلومات کو سائبر خطرات سے محفوظ رکھنے کے لیے سخت حفاظتی اقدامات پر عمل کرنا ہوگا۔ ان میں انکرپشن شامل ہے، جو حساس ڈیٹا کو منتقلی اور ذخیرہ کرنے کے دوران محفوظ رکھتی ہے، اور رسائی کنٹرول، جو صرف مجاز افراد کو مستحقین کی معلومات تک رسائی کی اجازت دیتا ہے جبکہ غیر ضروری افشا کو روکتا ہے۔
Conclusion
Direct fund transfers directly into a person’s bank account would mark the milestone of yet another mechanism of social safety nets in Pakistan. A much more efficient mechanism, enabling transparency in women’s financial inclusion, would benefit millions of families across the country with this new mechanism of payment. Challenging areas are those related to digital literacy and infrastructure, as they are going to be the only guarantees of its long-term success. Such initiatives are essential as Pakistan continues along its journey toward economic stability and growth, making the country’s society more inclusive in terms of a better quality of life for every individual through access to financial resources.
