Cynthia Ezekwe
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has issued a directive requiring all Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) members who registered before July 1, 2019 to update their personal information in the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) database.
The Data Recapture Exercise (DRE) is designed to ensure that all relevant information in the RSA database is current and correct, so that members can take full advantage of the services offered by Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs).
The services include retirement benefits such as lump-sum payments and annuities, as well as equity contributions for residential mortgages and pension transfers.
In 2023, a total of 218,953 Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders were recaptured by the PFAs. This exercise is important for maintaining up-to-date, comprehensive, and accurate data of RSA holders.
However, there are still many eligible RSA holders who are yet to be recaptured and are required to undergo the exercise.
The recapture exercise was introduced in July 2019, as the Enhanced Contribution Registration System (ECRS) replaced the old Contributor Registration System (CRS), providing a seamless integration with the National Identity Management Commission’s (NIMC) database. It enables the verification of the uniqueness of individuals registered by PFAs under the CPS.
According to PenCom, non participation in the DRE carries significant implications for accessing pension services from PFAs. For instance, only RSA holders who have completed their data recapture can transfer their RSAs from one Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) to another.
Also, contributors who have not been recaptured will not be able to access retirement benefits upon retirement. Furthermore, access to 25 percent of the RSA balance in cases of temporary job loss and access to RSA balance towards payment of equity contribution for residential mortgage are exclusively available to RSA holders who have completed the data recapture.
PenCom noted further that RSA holders with multiple PINs who fail to recapture their data will experience delays in resolving their situations, potentially resulting in incorrect remittances by employers. This, it stated, could also result in delayed payment of retirement benefits. Hence, it is in the best interest of RSA holders to participate in the recapture to ensure seamless access to services from PFAs.
On the requirements for the exercise, PenCom noted, “An RSA holder must possess a NIN in order to be recaptured, in line with the federal government’s national identity policy. Active contributors must visit their PFAs and provide their staff identity card or any valid means of identification, such as a national driver’s licence, permanent voter’s card, or international passport.
“Additionally, they should present their enrolment slip issued by NIMC and birth certificate or sworn affidavit of age declaration for the recapture. Retirees under programmed withdrawal or annuity should provide any valid means of identification, the enrolment slip issued by NIMC, and the letter of retirement issued by their employer for the recapture.’’
The commission stated that RSA holders who have changed their surnames or first names, or both, after registration, must present some core documents for their PFA recapture, including marriage certificate (if applicable), newspaper publication for the change of name, and sworn affidavit and confirmation letter for change of name from the employer (if still employed).
It added that PFAs will issue acknowledgment slips to RSA holders upon submission of complete documentation, and notification of the status of their recapture will be sent via text messages within five working days, noting that PenCom remains committed to regulating and supervising the pension industry to ensure timely payment of retirement benefits.
