THE Bank South Pacific yesterday confirmed that the first recipient of government’s Parenthood Assistance Payment Program was welcomed as one of the bank’s valued customers.
BSP country head, Haroon Ali said Vaciseva Peterson was issued the first letter from the Suva office of the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages, endorsing her son as a recipient of the $1000 grant under this program.
He said in the letter, the Registrar Generals Office stated that trustee and mother, Ms Petersen had nominated BSP for the deposit of the Parenthood Assistance payment of $1000.
“Ms Petersen had made initial enquiries about our account opening requirements and once she arrived at our Thomson St branch with all of these, we were able to instantly open Baby Mathia’s bank account,” Mr Ali said.
He said the bank welcomed baby Mathias Zephanaia Petersen and Ms Petersen to BSP’s group of valued customers.
Meanwhile, Mr Ali said BSP had tailored its fee free services for the financial care of Fiji’s newborn citizens in accordance with this Government of Fiji policy to assist parenthood.
He said under their suite of benefits for children, including newborn babies, BSP has had a longstanding arrangement to enable parents to transfer funds to these accounts free.
This initiative encourages parents to build on these funds through regular deposits from their own income,” he said.
For mothers choosing to open a bank account with BSP in order to access this grant, they will need to present these original documents;
1. the approval letter from the Registrar General’s office
2. a Valid Photo ID
3. Joint TIN ID
4. Birth Certificate
5. A copy of the Parenthood Assistance form (required for trustees)
As for the newborn, they are required only to have originals of their TIN letter and a birth certificate.
