National Savings Organisation
A visit to a National Saving Centre is not something that one looks forward to. Lack of information, long queues, inadequate seating and dungeon offices take away much of the excitement from the monthly profits. Established by the British in 1873, the Saving Schemes have come a long way – from the Postal Saving Schemes to the Defence Savings Certificates and now the Regular, Special and Bahbood Saving Schemes. However the manifold increase in the number of customers, saving schemes and the amounts deposited has done little to change the century-old work processes of the National Savings Organisation. These remain sluggish, out-dated and customer-unfriendly.
The Savings Organization receives huge deposits and caters to millions of people every month. It is almost a sole supplier that draws sustenance from its needy captive customers. It can greatly redesign and simplify its processes to make them more efficient and convenient for its customers – most of whom are senior citizens.
The National Savings Organisation ought to ask all customers to specify a bank account and the frequency at which the profits on their investments may be deposited. Once done, none of these individuals need to visit the Saving Centres to receive their profits – which are transferred automatically to their specified bank accounts at the defined frequency. As the largest majority of customers visit the Saving Centres only to receive their profits, some 70-80 percent traffic can be entirely eliminated. The individuals can draw profits from their banks /ATMs in their own time without ever having to visit a Saving Centre.
In the UK, the Saving Investments can be managed by on-line, postal and telephonic transactions. The profits are sent directly to the banks and the accounts can be opened or closed online. Must we stick to the system they gave us one hundred and forty years back? The technology for direct money transfer to banks is known and requires no additional investment. In fact the National Savings Organisation could easily redeploy most of its thirty three hundred employees for more meaningful assignments.