The Social Security System (SSS) announced that retirement pensioners who are first-time borrowers under the SSS Pension Loan Program (PLP) may submit their applications via My.SSS portal starting Monday, May 30.
“We recognize the challenges faced by our retirement pensioners in going to SSS branch to avail of the Pension Loan Program. With the pandemic still around, pensioners prefer to have their transactions done online in their respective homes," said SSS President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Michael G. Regino in s statement released the same day.
This online facility will make the process more convenient and will guarantee a faster approval process, he added.
Regino encouraged retirement pensioners to take advantage of this low-interest loan offering from the SSS.
He also gave assurance that the state-run pension fund will not require them to surrender their ATM cards as pawn collateral, unlike some private loan institutions.
Before, pension loan borrowers needed to directly visit their nearest SSS branch for initial applications since online filing was available only for the renewal of loan applications.
The PLP was made to assist retirement pensioners in their short-term finances. It offers a loan with a minimal interest rate of 10 percent per annum.
Qualified pensioners can be granted with loans equivalent to three, six, nine, or 12 times their basic monthly pension plus the P1,000 additional benefit, but not exceeding the maximum amount of PHP 200,000.00. (Luisa Cabato)