(Kaieteur News) – The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) has dramatically expanded the ways pensioners can access their money, growing its payment network from 77 locations to more than 4,800 in a single move — an increase that the government says will end the long queues and long journeys that have defined pension collection for decades.

The expansion was announced at a launch ceremony that doubled as the NIS Board of Directors’ 600th meeting since the scheme’s founding in September 1969, marking the milestone with what Senior Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh called “a giant step in improving the ease with which NIS pensioners can get their pensions.”

Until now, pensioners could only cash vouchers at 14 NIS offices or 63 Guyana Post Office Corporation branches nationwide. The new partnerships add 4,779 locations overnight with: