1,965 Alta Banka pensioners must pick a bank by Nov. 20
Postal Savings Bank says 1,965 pensioners paid through Alta Banka must open a permanent account and send proof to the PIO Fund.
Alta Banka pensioners have until November 20 to choose the bank where they will receive their pension from now on. The deadline affects 1,965 people who were paid through the bank now in bankruptcy, according to Ivan Bojcic, a representative of Banka Postanska stedionica (Postal Savings Bank), who gave the figure to RTS on Wednesday, November 4.
Earlier today we reported only that pension payments are going through Postal Savings Bank. Bojcic gave the deadline and the number of affected pensioners later in the afternoon. According to him, the bank is stable and liquid, and it arranged the rerouting of payments with the Republic Fund for Pension and Disability Insurance (PIO Fund).
What must pensioners do by November 20?
Pensioners choose for themselves where their pension will be paid. They can open a permanent account at Postal Savings Bank or at any other bank, and they must send proof of it to the PIO Fund. Bojcic put it this way:
“They have until November 20 to open an account, either at Postal Savings Bank or at another bank, and to submit proof of that to the Fund for Pension and Disability Insurance”
Until then, pensions arrive through Postal Savings Bank, not through Alta Banka.
When does the October pension arrive?
Temporary accounts have been opened for Alta Banka customers. Bojcic said they were opened precisely because the October pension will be paid into them: “Temporary accounts have been opened for pensioners, and the October pension will be paid into them.” In his explanation, the aim is that people can withdraw their money without obstacles.
Payment dates depend on the pensioner’s category:
- self-employed: the pension has already been paid
- military and farmer pensioners: payment is on November 5
- employees and other beneficiaries in that category: payment is planned for November 10
Who pays out the insured deposits?
Postal Savings Bank will not only be paying out pensions. The Deposit Insurance Agency picked it as the paying bank in a 2024 tender. Such tenders are held every four years, and the details are now being finalized and the contract signed, which is needed for the payout to Alta Banka depositors. The bank will also pay out insured deposits, up to the legally guaranteed 50,000 euros.
The money does not come from Postal Savings Bank’s own funds. Bojcic stressed:
“Those funds are not the funds of Postal Savings Bank, but the funds of the Deposit Insurance Fund. Our bank will only be the paying bank, which will technically carry out the payout, provide the infrastructure, the staff and a sufficient amount of funds for the payout. Everything is done in the name and on behalf of the Deposit Insurance Agency”
How many Alta Banka clients are entitled to a payout, and the total amount, is not yet known. The Agency supplies that data and is due to publish it no later than Friday, November 6, together with the start date of the payout, the payment locations and the working hours. Based on Postal Savings Bank’s announcements, payments could begin a few days after that.
Where will Alta Banka customers collect their money?
Alta Banka had 19 branches: 12 in towns across Serbia and seven in Belgrade. Postal Savings Bank announced that the payout will be organized in at least every town where Alta had a branch, so clients do not have to travel to other cities. The preparations, as stated, have been coordinated so that the bank’s regular operations are not put at risk.
