DEPARTMENT of Finance Deputy Secretary for Support Services Tom Tiki said the change was part of the Government’s wider move towards a modern digital payment system.
“By transitioning away from manual, paper-heavy payment processes to automated digital disbursement, we are directly strengthening our internal control strategy against errors, delays and operational inefficiencies,” Mr Tiki said.
He said integrating EFT with the Integrated Financial Management System would provide stronger controls over public funds, with payments linked to verified bank account details and digital records.
Secretary for Education Dr. Uke Kombra said the department supported the reform and recognised the need to move away from traditional cheque-based processes.
“With this new change that’s going to be launched, which has actually started on the 1st of October, we know that this is going to change the way we manage and operate in delivering of education services,” Mr Kombra said.
The Department of Education is one of the Government’s major spending agencies and previously processed about 30 to 50 cheques each day, amounting to between 7,000 and 8,000 cheques annually.
Mr Kombra said the transition would require officers to be careful when entering bank account details to ensure payments reached the correct recipients.
He also called for clear processing deadlines to reduce delays and improve the department’s ability to track payments to schools, suppliers and service providers.
The Finance Division has already conducted trial payments under EFT, with the department reporting that 16 payments were processed during a trial on September 29.
The rollout is expected to gradually expand across the department as staff adapt to the new system.