The Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Kwasi Afreh Biney, has identified user adoption as the biggest obstacle to the institution’s digital transformation efforts, arguing that technology alone cannot improve service delivery if customers are unwilling to use it.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on Thursday, Mr Biney said SSNIT has made significant progress in automating its operations, resulting in faster pension processing and improved efficiency. However, he stressed that the success of these innovations ultimately depends on whether contributors and pensioners embrace the digital platforms available to them.
According to him, one of the most notable achievements of SSNIT’s digital transformation journey has been the reduction in the time required to process pension claims.
“So let’s say you’ve gone on pension now, all your documents are right, and you’ve submitted them to us. On average, now it takes us seven days to process your request to be put on the pension payroll to the very end, because remember, we need to do some investigations, we need to pick files, do some validations, and all that,” he explained.
Mr Biney noted that the improvement has been driven largely by automation, which has helped eliminate many manual processes that previously slowed down service delivery.
Despite these gains, he believes the next phase of SSNIT’s transformation will require a change in customer behaviour.
“Automation has really helped, but one of the things that I believe we need to work on is the mindset shift as to the use of our digital channels,” he said.
He observed that many organisations invest heavily in technology but often fail to focus on ensuring that customers actually adopt and use the systems.
“If you’ve invested in technology but you haven’t gotten people to accept it and use it, you will not get the benefits that you seek,” he stated.
To tackle this challenge, the SSNIT Director-General revealed that the Trust has established a dedicated department tasked with driving digital engagement and improving customer experience.
“That is why we have currently set up a department whose core job is to look at our digital channels, to get people to use it, to get feedback and ensure that consistently we are nimble and improving for people to use with ease and convenience,” he explained.
The department, he said, will focus on understanding user experiences, gathering feedback and making continuous improvements to ensure customers find SSNIT’s digital services easy and convenient to use.
Mr Biney further disclosed that the institution has adopted a strategy that places digital services at the centre of its operations, while maintaining physical interactions as a supporting option.
“We also made a conscious decision that we wanted digital to be the default, and once digital is the default, we need to go out there, let people know the convenience and ease that our digital channels bring, so that people use it, and then face-to-face becomes complementary to the digital use,” he said.
He argued that service providers must design solutions that fit naturally into the daily habits of customers if they want digital adoption to increase.
“You wake up in the morning, and probably the first thing you pick up is your phone. You probably will go on WhatsApp. Let’s make it.”
“Let’s look at how we live our lives and offer solutions that mimic that way of living. And through that, we bring convenience and service to the people,” he added.
According to Mr Biney, increasing digital adoption remains critical to SSNIT’s broader objective of providing faster, more efficient and customer-focused pension services. He believes that while the technology infrastructure is already in place, encouraging more Ghanaians to use it will determine how much value both the institution and its customers ultimately derive from the investment.
