CAMS launches Central Record Keeping Agency under NPS

Computer Age Management Services Limited (CAMS) today announced the launch of the Central Record Keeping Agency (CRA) under the National Pension System (NPS).

CAMS is India's largest registrar and transfer agent of mutual funds and is a SEBI regulated entity. Sector regulator Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) appointed CAMS as a CRA to broad-base the services to NPS subscribers and the ecosystem. CAMS NPS platform is designed to build subscriber confidence and convenience by leveraging new-generation technologies and applications to elevate the service standards and experience of users.

Mr. Supratim Bandyopadhyay Chairman, PFRDA, said, "I am delighted to be part of the launch of CAMS Central Record Keeping Agency under National Pension System and CAMS will start onboarding customers to the eNPS program from today. A large number of our workforce is in the unorganized sector and needs retirement solutions. Having followed the pension segment for the last 7 to 8 years, I have seen awareness of the pension scheme and its utilities amongst Indians going up. We have witnessed a 45% increase in the onboarding of customers to NPS from the corporate and retail segments. The growth rate went up by almost three times in the last 4 years and if this trend continues, we can expect 1 million new customers getting onboarded this year."

NPS, a voluntary retirement scheme, designed and regulated by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) was launched on January 1, 2004, by the Central Government to help build a retirement corpus. Since then, NPS has emerged as a preferred investment option for employers, employees, and the self-employed alike.

Anuj Kumar, Managing Director, CAMS, said "Launching the CRA platform is the beginning of a new chapter for CAMS in the Pension segment and we are excited about the opportunity. Our technology and deep experience as a financial infrastructure institution for the BFSI segment and Mutual Funds, in particular, will be the foundation for successfully implementing the CAMS CRA operations and bringing differentiated subscriber experience. Consistent with a philosophy of ahead-of-market thinking, CAMS liaised with the regulator from the very beginning to seek their assent to hosting the entire CRA infrastructure on the cloud. The business has gone live completely on the cloud - this is an industry first and hasn't been done before by any participant, and vindicates our style of adopting progressive and future-ready technology frameworks."

As one of the three CRAs, the CAMS NPS platform will provide superior subscriber services leveraging robust technology and deep experience in serving customers for pension account opening, record keeping and maintenance services. This will include subscriber onboarding with multiple KYC options, maintenance and account keeping functions and infrastructure for record-keeping including customer interaction systems and interfaces like web, mobile app, call centre, etc.

CAMS CRA will offer services to NPS subscribers of all sectors such as common citizens, the government sector and the unorganized sector. The platform will also extend services to the authority, NPS Trust and the entire NPS ecosystem intermediaries like PoPs, nodal offices, trustee banks, pension fund managers and annuity service providers.