While you are still in paid employment, you may not worry about the bank for your pension account. The pension administrator will take care of that.
This is because your employer will credit your pension savings account through the Pension Fund Administrator when your salary is due.
At retirement, you may either decide to use your old bank that you are familiar with or simply open a new account in another bank for the payment of your pensions.
The current pension scheme, operational in the country, states that at retirement, your PFA will first pay a bulk sum in the account you provide after which it will be paying you monthly pensions through the same account.
As you will have to be relating with this new bank, it would be advisable to find out about the bank that is most appropriate for you.
The following points will help you to choose the bank that best suits your pension needs.
- Current account: Many retirees make the mistake of choosing a current account for their pension accounts. The lump sum paid by the PFAs into the bank account of the retiree can attract a huge charge from your bank. However, you may transfer some of the money into the current account if you want to use it for transactions that cannot be conducted with your savings account. This will reduce the amount to be charged on your current account.
- Charges: Some banks charge for services that are free in other banks. Choose a bank that will not deduct outrageous charges for every transaction you conduct. No interest is paid to you for maintaining a current account but banks charge maintenance fees on current account. Banks charge for every withdrawal of N1,000. If you are also receiving money from another bank as deposit, you will also be charged for stamp duty. You are charged for every SMS that you receive from your bank. If you also do any online transfer to another bank or use your debit card on another bank’s Automated Teller Machine, you will be charged for the transaction. Some banks may also want to deduct some other charges on services rendered.
- Payment types: Choose a bank that offers the payment platforms that are convenient for you like the provision of the ATM cards, mobile transfers, online transfers and other services.
- Accessibility: You may have to visit your bank to do some transactions like deposits, transfers, payments and other things. You may need to update some information about yourself or process some official transactions through your bank. Consider the bank that has locations easily accessible to you.
