Possibly born of its mother hen culture, Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority UFAA claims process, could inadvertently be impeding the reunification of assets with their owner.
Kenyans reluctant to go for Shs 8.73 billion unclaimed assets, says Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA). So reported the Business Daily. The Chief Executive of UFAA, Kellen Kariuki, to show how dire the situation is explained: “We have written to many people to come forward and claim their hard earned money but surprisingly, most are not doing so.”
Now, I’d like to believe those letters are hitting home, and I’m yet to find someone refusing to get money that is rightfully theirs. So, maybe UFAA’s challenge isn’t proof (that unclaimed assets exist), or marketing, but its processes and distribution- at least for small amounts. Possibly born of its mother hen culture, UFAA’s ‘purchasing’ process (claiming) could inadvertently be impeding the sale (reunification of assets with owner).
Annoying UFAA claims process
If, like me, you are following up unclaimed shares for a deceased relative, for instance, you’ll deal with the stock broker (for the transfer to the beneficiary), and, for unpaid dividends, the respective registrar and the CDSC (Central Depository & Settlement Corporation). All of them are in Nairobi. And in all, you will be taken through the lengthy and irritating exercise of submitting the same documents, some which may mean ferrying your elderly (beneficiary) mother more than once to sign in the presence of an authorized officer. Finally, you get sent to UFAA for the any other unclaimed dividends. And, guess what? You require the same (original) lawyer certified documents, and then some. “And, no, Treasury cannot pay to M-Pesa, only to a bank account. So the beneficiary must open one!”
By now you have spent (wasted?) months, money, and manpower. So you start asking yourself, “Are all these hoops I’m being made to jump through worth the (sentimental) few hundreds, or thousands I’m pursuing?” Will you write back to UFAA explaining the miasma of frustration that you are wallowing in? I doubt. But you will tell someone else. Now 500,000 people throwing up their hands at the nuisance of pursuing, say, Shs 6,000, amounts to Shs. 3 billion. Welcome to UFAA claims process
Compliance vs Efficiency
I do not mean to make light of the importance of knowing your customer. That is, dealing with the right legal beneficiary. But, this is pioneer Digital Finance Services Kenya. Even banks (the bastion of rigmaroles) have eliminated most of the hoops they used to make us jump through for everything except depositing money. So what do I propose? In the long term, fully digitize the process which I assume is the plan. In the immediate, accept M-Pesa payments as an option. Just as the government does when one is paying for, say, a Driving License. But before that, make it a one-stop shop. Let me submit all the necessary documents once. Further, borrowing from banks, increase your distribution points, to cater for the mzee from, say Kisumu, who arrives at 3.06pm at a registrar in Nairobi only to be told, “Tushafunga. We close at 3.”
Many sales are lost because the seller sabotages themselves with their painful protracted processes. Could UFAA’s claims process be such? What do you think?
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