Banking on the less fortunate

"The majority of our clients are the infirm and elderly. To this job you need to bring much more than just a good CV. You need to have a heart," she said.

A big heart is apparently what she has brought to the job to the point that she has become a champion for the weak and meek among those that she services.

Her colleagues say if she can't get local authorities to improve the public facilities that serve as pension pay points, she does her best to find the money in the tight budgets to build ramps at the buildings so they are accessible to the many claimants in wheelchairs.

"AllPay's core business, the payment of social grants, is inextricably linked to the plight of SA's most needy and vulnerable citizens and Absa has a deep commitment to making a difference in their lives," said Mbabama.

AllPay works with community-based organisations (CBOs) that aim to make the lives of its clientele easier.

In the provinces where it has a presence, its black economic empowerment shareholders would include the CBOs. The company also invests in the communities it serves through its corporate social investment initiatives (CSIs).

"Our subsidiaries in the provinces have to date collectively and cumulatively spent over R27m in CSI activities," she said.

"We have adopted holistic approaches to addressing the needs of the communities that we serve."

To illustrate the point, she cites the example of Mpho Chauke of Olievenhoutbosch in Tshwane.

Chauke, a young mother who cannot walk and receives a disability grant, has received a donation of a wheelchair from AllPay.

Absa has also erected a container in this former informal settlement that offers full banking services including access to ATMs.

To save her the pain of having to queue for the grant, she has her money, including a child support grant, deposited into her Sekulula account.

"Working with the department of social services, we have come up with a transactional fee structure that is more competitive than that of Mzansi," said Mbabama.

Mzansi is SA's low-cost national bank account that extends banking to low-income earners and those living beyond the reach of banking services.

Chauke will soon move into a new RDP house which forms part of Absa's R400m joint venture with government for the delivery of low-cost housing in line with the ideals of the financial sector charter.

Mbabama says 800 000 of the 2.4m social grant beneficiaries on the books of AllPay have their grants deposited directly into their Sekulula bank accounts.

"For those who still choose to receive their grants in cash, we offer free bottled water at the pension pay points. It is really about bringing dignity and honour to the process," she said.

She said one of her greatest concerns is the exposure of the elderly to loan sharks. "These unscrupulous lenders prey on the vulnerable and a way has to be found to rid the pay points of these elements."

Mbabama runs a lean and mean machinery of 20 individuals at AllPay's Johannesburg headquarters.

She says issues of women empowerment are close to her heart and she has in the last few months had her executive committee team beefed up by three women.

"The team is 60% female and 75% black and we more than meet our employment equity targets throughout the company but there will always be room for improvement," she said.

The two areas in which AllPay appears to be lacking is its affirmative procurement spending and the company also has to work on polishing its reputation.

- City Press