Cashless social security payments: A direction in line with social development orientation

Improve the quality of service to people

Since 2022, the Government has issued a series of important documents such as Directive No. 21, Decision No. 06 and most recently Official Dispatch No. 742 dated January 26, 2025 of the Government Office , requiring localities to accelerate the implementation of non-cash social assistance policy payments. This direction is not only consistent with the orientation of digital society development but also solves long-standing problems in payment work: manual, cumbersome, lack of transparency and prone to errors. In Binh Thuan, the implementation of Plan No. 4102 dated October 24, 2023 has set a clear goal: By 2025, 100% of beneficiaries of social security policies from the state budget will be paid through accounts. To achieve the above goal, the province has issued plans and documents directing the implementation of non-cash social security payments...

Promote the implementation of cashless payments for social policy cases. (Illustration photo)

Thanks to that, in 2024, the whole province deployed 10/10 districts to make non-cash payments to 21,150/54,649 beneficiaries of social security policies in the province, reaching a rate of 38.7% of the total beneficiaries with a total payment through accounts of more than 183 billion VND. Specifically, people with revolutionary contributions and relatives of people with revolutionary contributions were 4,283/9,035 people, reaching a rate of 47.4% with a payment of more than 103 billion VND; social protection beneficiaries, households, and individuals providing care and nurturing were 16,867/45,614 people, reaching a rate of 37% with a payment of more than 80 billion VND.

For those who are not eligible for cashless payment, districts, towns and cities will pay monthly social allowances to social protection beneficiaries through the Postal system according to the procedures prescribed in Decision No. 37 of the Provincial People's Committee on promulgating regulations on organizing the payment of social assistance policies for social protection beneficiaries in the community through the Postal system in Binh Thuan province. The monthly payment success rate in some districts and towns is quite high (95% or more), ensuring compliance with the agreement in the signed contract. Although this result shows great effort, compared to expectations and potential, there is still a significant gap, requiring stronger participation from the entire political system.

Synchronous and decisive action

In reality, implementing a new policy with a specific target group - mainly the elderly, the disabled, the poor, the meritorious... has never been easy. Many people do not have smartphones, have not been issued citizen identification cards, are unfamiliar with or do not trust electronic transactions. Some are afraid of risks when opening an account or worry about losing control when authorizing relatives. In addition, the human resources at the commune level are still thin, each commune has only one civil servant in charge of many areas of work, making it difficult to implement closely. On the other hand, propaganda work has not been organized evenly, lacking a close, practical approach to each target group, causing the mentality of "receiving cash for sure" to still be common, especially in the social protection group.

Faced with that reality, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee has issued a directive requiring all departments, branches and localities to enhance their sense of responsibility and more drastically implement solutions to promote the progress of non-cash payments. Commercial banks implement free and preferential policies when people open and use subsidy accounts. People's Committees of districts, towns and cities proactively arrange human resources, monitor and summarize the implementation situation, and promptly propose solutions to remove difficulties at the grassroots level.

In reality, changing habits has never been easy, but when the benefits are real, transparent, convenient, and fast, change is inevitable. And in that journey, every official, every level of government needs to become a companion, a leader, and an inspiration for people to join the digital transformation journey - where no one is left behind.

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/chi-tra-an-sinh-xa-hoi-khong-dung-tien-mat-huong-di-phu-hop-voi-dinh-huong-phat-trien-xa-hoi-129381.html