The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has reported that a total of 222,141 workers have changed their Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and moved N908.363 billion from their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) since it opened the window of transfer.
PenCom disclosed this in its transfers report on ‘Quarterly summary of Retirement Savings Accounts transferred by Pension Fund Administrators’ from the fourth quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of 2023.
The transfer window allows a contributor under the contributory pension scheme (CPS) to move all his RSAs from his current PFA to another of his choice once in a year.
Contributors move their RSAs for various reasons including the desire for improved services and rate of return on investments paid on their savings by the PFAs.
In the third quarter of 2023, 19,014 RSA holders dumped their PFAs for new ones and moved N85.99 billion, which was their savings balance to new PFAs.
According to PenCom, 34,359 workers moved N158.6 billion in the second quarter of 2023, from 24,963 who moved N111.67 billion in the first quarter of 2023.
The figures disclosed that 2,799 contributors moved N18.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020; 12,681 contributors moved N47.78 billion in the first quarter of 2021; 10,166 moved N35.89 billion in the second quarter of 2021; 12,872 contributors moved N45.56 billion in the third quarter of 2021; while 12,874 contributors moved N42.49 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021.
It added that 12,336 contributors moved N36.36 billion in the first quarter of 2022; 14,821 moved N50.22 billion in the second quarter of 2022; 30,973 moved N143.1 billion in the third quarter of 2022; while 34,283 moved N131.76 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Workers continued to change PFAs after PenCom barred the PFAs from sending gifts to RSA holders in 2022.