SSS salary loans released in H1 hit P19B
Credit to Author: MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO, TMT| Date: Mon, 02 Sep 2019 16:17:33 +0000
THE Social Security System (SSS) reported on Monday that salary loans granted to its members rose to P19.01 billion in the first half of 2019.
In a statement, the state-run pension fund said the amount was an 8.4-percent increase from P17.53 billion in the same period last year.
SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora Ignacio attributed the growth to the number of member-borrowers rising to 941,716 in the six months ending June from 886,208 a year ago.
“[A] salary loan is one of the most popular loan privileges of [the] SSS. In fact, salary loans represent almost the entire amount of loan releases for the first half of this year,” Ignacio said.
Of the total number of borrowers, 846,823 were employed members, with P17.67 billion in salary loans granted; 75,465, voluntary members (P1.08 billion); 10,423, self-employed members (P83.69 million); and 9,004, overseas Filipino workers-members (P163.07 million).
To qualify for the loan, a member must have at least 36 posted monthly contributions, six of which must have been paid within the last 12 months before the month of application.
Members qualified to receive a two-month salary loan must have at least 72 posted monthly contributions, six of which must have been paid within the last 12 months prior to the month of application.
“Members must be [younger than] 65 years old at the time of application and has not been granted any final benefit, such as total permanent disability, retirement and death,” Ignacio said.
Interested self-employed and voluntary members may personally submit their salary loan application and other supporting documents at any SSS branch or by using the SSS Self-Service Information Terminals in selected branches.
They may also file their application online using their My.SSS account on the SSS website, or through their smartphones using the SSS mobile app.
Employed members, on the other hand, should submit their duly accomplished salary loan application form to their company’s human resource department or online through their My.SSS accounts with their employer’s validation and certification.
“OFW-members with registered My.SSS accounts may also submit their salary loan application online. Also, they still have the option to visit our SSS foreign offices to personally submit their application,” Ignacio said.