NamPost On Bad Service

I REFER to a letter in The Namibian of 11 October 2005, titled ‘Pathetic Postal Services’.In the letter, the writer complained about two key things: firstly that NamPost clients now have to wait longer for their savings books to be audited, and for interest calculations to be completed.

This is sometimes true. And, secondly, that NamPost clients did not pay transaction charges on savings accounts in the past but now have to do so.This is true.I will deal with each issue in turn.In order for NamPost to become more client focused and service oriented, we have embarked on a major project to replace all savings books with a smart card in early 2006.This chance will enable our clients, amongst other things, to have interest earned on their balances to be automatically updated on a monthly basis.The Smart Card will also provide additional value-added services to our clients.We will be running a media campaign shortly to explain in more detail the nature and benefits of this new wonderful product.As a result of the Smart Card initiative, NamPost recently initiated a campaign to request savings bank customers to bring in their books for audit.The objective is to update all the savings books so that accurate data can be transferred to the new system.We have assigned a number of employees all over the country to complete the audit process, and they have been doing a marvellous job so far.It sometimes happens, however, that some clients have dormant accounts on which no transactions have taken place for a few years.It takes time to update these books, thus resulting in delays in some cases.NamPost sincerely apologises for inconvenience caused by such delays.However, we are busy with a process of ensuring that all savings accounts are updated to provide a more efficient service to our clients in the future.Such occasional operational hiccups, as and when they occur, do not negate the fact that our vision is to improve customer service at NamPost.And we will continue to keep our eyes firmly focused on customer service transformation.May I also seize this opportunity to encourage more of our clients to bring in their savings books for audit as a matter of priority? With regard to transaction fees, I wish to state that, initially NamPost provided banking services free of charge.While this was very beneficial to the client, it was not exactly sustainable.NamPost incurred administrative costs related to savings accounts, but carried those charges for a long time.About two years ago, we introduced minimal transaction and services charges on these accounts.This was done to ensure that NamPost would be able to cover the cost of providing this service to our clients in a sustainable manner.However, we also made a conscious decision to keep these fees minimal and well below fees charged by commercial banks.We continue to honour that decision, and still charge the lowest transaction fees of all the banking institutions in Namibia.Be assured that our vision is and remains client satisfaction.Please feel free to contact our General Manager of NamPost Savings Bank, Patrick Gardiner, at telephone number 201 3115 or 081 127 2107 if you experience any problems or need to additional information.Sakaria H Nghikembua Chief Executive Officer Namibia Post LimitedAnd, secondly, that NamPost clients did not pay transaction charges on savings accounts in the past but now have to do so.This is true.I will deal with each issue in turn.In order for NamPost to become more client focused and service oriented, we have embarked on a major project to replace all savings books with a smart card in early 2006.This chance will enable our clients, amongst other things, to have interest earned on their balances to be automatically updated on a monthly basis.The Smart Card will also provide additional value-added services to our clients.We will be running a media campaign shortly to explain in more detail the nature and benefits of this new wonderful product.As a result of the Smart Card initiative, NamPost recently initiated a campaign to request savings bank customers to bring in their books for audit.The objective is to update all the savings books so that accurate data can be transferred to the new system.We have assigned a number of employees all over the country to complete the audit process, and they have been doing a marvellous job so far.It sometimes happens, however, that some clients have dormant accounts on which no transactions have taken place for a few years.It takes time to update these books, thus resulting in delays in some cases.NamPost sincerely apologises for inconvenience caused by such delays.However, we are busy with a process of ensuring that all savings accounts are updated to provide a more efficient service to our clients in the future.Such occasional operational hiccups, as and when they occur, do not negate the fact that our vision is to improve customer service at NamPost.And we will continue to keep our eyes firmly focused on customer service transformation.May I also seize this opportunity to encourage more of our clients to bring in their savings books for audit as a matter of priority? With regard to transaction fees, I wish to state that, initially NamPost provided banking services free of charge.While this was very beneficial to the client, it was not exactly sustainable.NamPost incurred administrative costs related to savings accounts, but carried those charges for a long time.About two years ago, we introduced minimal transaction and services charges on these accounts.This was done to ensure that NamPost would be able to cover the cost of providing this service to our clients in a sustainable manner.However, we also made a conscious decision to keep these fees minimal and well below fees charged by commercial banks.We continue to honour that decision, and still charge the lowest transaction fees of all the banking institutions in Namibia.Be assured that our vision is and remains client satisfaction.Please feel free to contact our General Manager of NamPost Savings Bank, Patrick Gardiner, at telephone number 201 3115 or 081 127 2107 if you experience any problems or need to additional information.Sakaria H Nghikembua Chief Executive Officer Namibia Post Limited