The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has launched a Membership Value Programme (MVP) to provide additional benefits to contributors and pensioners.

The programme, launched in partnership with Ecobank Ghana, introduces a free SSNIT-branded prepaid Visa card that offers members and pensioners access to digital healthcare services, discounts from partner businesses, reduced airfares and secure cashless payments locally and internationally.

Mr Kwesi Afreh Biney, Director-General of SSNIT, speaking at the launch of the programme in Accra on Wednesday, said the initiative reflected the Trust’s dual responsibility of protecting retirement income while improving the quality of life of members and serving as an incentive to attract new contributors.

He said although the collection of contributions and payment of benefits remained central to SSNIT’s mandate, changing worker expectations required the Trust to deliver practical value throughout members’ working lives.

Mr Biney said the programme was built on the principle that workers who entrusted SSNIT with their retirement security should also enjoy benefits before retirement.

He said the initiative was particularly important because about 80 per cent of Ghana’s working population, especially those in the informal sector, remained outside the formal employment system and social security scheme.

Mr Biney said increasing enrolment among such workers required inclusive, accessible and attractive initiatives and expressed confidence that the programme would encourage more people to join the scheme.

“We’re building a social security institution that understands the realities of workers’ changing expectations.

“That Journey has just begun – a journey from obligation to engagement, from transactions to experience and from a narrow understanding of personal Administration to a broader more human cantered organisation responding to your call,” he said.

Mr Biney expressed gratitude to Ecobank Ghana for developing the SSNIT-branded prepaid Visa card and offering to issue it free of charge to members.

He also acknowledged the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) and the Bank of Ghana (BoG) for supporting the framework for implementing the programme.

Mr Biney said SSNIT’s membership of more than two million, growing by over 300,000 annually, offered participating businesses access to one of the country’s largest organised membership communities.

Mr Thomas Nyarko Ampem, Deputy Minister of Finance, described the programme as an example of delivering additional value to contributors and pensioners through strategic partnerships.

“The membership value programme is an excellent example of that vision in action…In essence, it makes social security relevant, not only for tomorrow, but also for today,” he said.

Mr Ampem said the programme would strengthen SSNIT’s engagement with its members while promoting greater formalisation, deeper financial inclusion and stronger public-private collaboration.

He said a sustainable pension system depended on a stable economy and strong domestic savings mobilised through trusted institutions such as SSNIT.

Mr Ampem said President John Dramani Mahama, in March 2026, directed a comprehensive review of Ghana’s pension system to improve its adequacy, sustainability, coverage and value, with particular attention to workers in the informal sector.

He encouraged SSNIT to continue building public trust by protecting workers’ contributions and ensuring the prompt payment of benefits to pensioners, while Government managed public funds prudently and responsibly.

Mr Ampem likened a pension to a planted tree, saying it was nurtured over time to provide long-term security, and urged that innovations such as the Membership Value Programme should be accompanied by prudent and professional management of contributors’ savings.

He congratulated the Board, Management and Staff of SSNIT on the initiative, describing it as a landmark step towards a stronger, more inclusive and more responsive pension system for Ghanaian workers.