E-zwich card to facilitate application of teachers' loans

Bolgatanga, Aug, 1, GNA - Mr Linus Attey, Upper East Regional Secretary of the Ghana National Association Teachers (GNAT), has said that teachers who apply for loans from the teachers fund would have their monies paid to them promptly.

This is because the teachers' Fund has initiated a process of granting loan facilities using the E-zwich technology to process it.

This indicates a change away from the routine two to three months they go through when accessing the facility.

Mr Attey made this known to teachers on Friday, when his office disbursed GH¢398,800 as personal loans to 3,011 teachers drawn from the nine districts in the Upper East Region.

The teachers who received the loans were given E-zwich cards each, to enable them to access loan facilities, using the card to cut down on the cumbersome processes involved in applying for loans from the fund. They can further use the cards to cash money if they so wish.

Mr Attey said teachers in other Regions were already using E-zwich cards in accessing loans from Banks and indicated that since the establishment of the Teacher's Fund in 1998 a lot of teachers have benefited tremendously from the schemes.

He noted that majority of teachers have been able to put up their own houses and purchased cars from the loan while others have accessed the it to finance their education and those of their children.

Mr Attey explained that the fund was established with the objective to create supplementing retirement benefits for members, to provide emergency relief to members, and to provide seed capital or start-up funding for part-time income generating activities.

He said the fund was established to assist members to organise their housing requirements by either providing collateral at a fee to members to access banking loans or by offering housing loans to members.

Besides, it was to facilitate members to acquire household consumables and electronic appliances at competitive prices and said it was against this background that the Loan established the Credit Mall Limited; a consumer credit venture for teachers fund to assist teachers to credit consumable items at moderate prices.

He said teachers have been able to credit consumable items thorough the teachers' consumer credit venture, which they would have otherwise paid more for.

He entreated teachers, who had not yet joined the scheme, to do so, to enable them to explore the numerous benefits available and said beneficiaries of the scheme would after their retirement, get back their money with interest.

He said the facility also covers insurance, and any member is entitled to GH¢500 when he or she dies, in addition to what they had contributed, adding that, the contribution and interests are also paid to relatives.