The national postal service company Moldova Mail (Posta Moldovei) is working on a series of measures to cope with the surge in the number of pension and welfare recipients once it takes over these payments from the troubled Banca de Economii and Banca Sociala on September 1.

Moldova Mail told IPN that it has already improved its cash receipt system, bringing the time of one transaction to 1 minute from 3 minutes previously. Another planned measure is to increase the number of employees.

Additionally, the company considers buying or renting spaces for opening 10 new post offices in the municipalities of Chisinau and Balti.

As many Moldovans pay their utility bills at Moldova Mail offices, the company is now trialling a QR code-based app that will enable payers to complete a payment within just half a minute using their mobile phone.

To further improve queue times, a queue management system will be piloted in Chisinau's central post office MD-2012 and then extended to other crowded offices in the capital. Additionally, a special schedule is being sketched to apply at postal offices at times of necessity.

Related to the pensions and welfare payments, once the National Social Insurance Corporation transfers the money to Mail Moldova, the beneficiaries will have time to pick up their money until the end of the month. If a beneficiary doesn't withdraw his or her money from the Banca de Economii card until August 26, the amount will be automatically transferred to Mail Moldova. Those who haven't withdrawn any money from their cards for several months will be able to request the entire amount from Mail Moldova.

Mail Moldova estimates that it will service roughly 150,000 beneficiaries from September 1.