People will no longer have to pay cash for the National Fire Authority services after signing an agreement with Vodafone Fiji to adopt their M-PAiSA mobile wallet for transaction between NFA businesses and members of the public.
NFA Chief Executive Officer Sowane Puamau says today marks another milestone for NFA as they enter into a new chapter in their mission to enhance the efficiency and accessibility of their services.
He says this initiative aligns with their five-year strategic plan and is a key component of NFA's ongoing effort to modernize and streamline their operations.
Puamau says by embracing mobile payment technology, they are taking a significant step towards becoming a more paperless organization, reducing the reliance on cash-based transactions.
He adds this agreement will allow them to improve and secure their payment systems, ensuring that their financial transactions are seamless and transparent, and revenues are collected in a timely manner.
The CEO says this will safeguard their employees from the impact of mismanagement, moreover it will reduce potential audit issues through missing receipts and payment documents.
He says visiting the stations to make payments will be a thing of the past, as their stakeholders and customers will be able to make payments from the comfort of their own homes and offices.
Puamau says services that will be included in the M-PAiSA payment mode include the hire charges of their emergency ambulances, the fire safety training, annual monitoring fee for alarm signal equipment, private fire alarm calls, and other special services provided by them.
He adds the introduction of M-PAiSA payment system will impact real-time revenue realization and minimize debt accumulation, and improve services delivery to valued customers.
Head of eCommerce and Digital Financial Services for Vodafone Fiji Shailendra Prasad says M-PAiSA is now a significant player in Fiji's financial system, enabling cashless and convenient payment options to hundreds of thousands of users across the country.
He says NFA provides some very important services to the whole of the country, such as the ambulance service, which is needed in emergency.
Prasad says if people expect to then come and make a payment here to then book a service, it's really an inconvenience at a time when people desperately need the service.
He adds the agreement ensures the payment is collected on time so that they don't have to run after the service has been provided to collect the money in terms of building the debt, because there's a cost to collecting debt again.
He adds if payments are received in real time, it actually saves a lot of time and money.
Stay tuned for the latest news on our radio stations
