The SSS or the Social Security System is a social insurance program designed to promote the welfare of its members and their families against economic hardships caused by life’s contingencies such as sickness, maternity, disability, old age, and death.
I heard many stories from my fellow Filipino seafarers about how they received financial assistance from SSS, especially during extended vacations.
It is important, however, that you regularly and actively pay your contributions so that you can be assured of the benefits being offered by the Social Security System, one of which is the salary loan.
What is a salary loan?
A salary loan is a cash loan granted to an employed, currently- paying self-employed, or voluntary member. It is intended to meet the member’s short-term credit needs.
Seafarers who are actively sailing are also actively paying their SSS contribution. To verify if your company is really paying for your contributions, you can check your account online using their website or you can proceed to the nearest SSS Branch.
I suggest consulting with the nearest branch so if anything doesn’t seem right with your contributions, you can ask them what the best things to do about it. But if everything is fine, you can proceed directly with applying for the salary loan.
But before going to any SSS Branch, follow these steps so your loan application will be fast and stress-free.
Loan Details
The loan is taken from your SSS contribution to meet your short-term financial needs. Thus, you are obliged to pay for it within two years or 24 months in monthly installments.
There is a service fee of 1% which is deducted from your loan amount. First-time loan applicants are granted a maximum loan amount of Php16,000.00. The amount that will be deposited to your bank account will be Php15,840.00 after deducting 1% from the total loan value.
There is also a 10% interest rate per annum charged to the loan with a diminishing principal balance. Be sure to pay up the amount until the last cent or it will continue to accrue interest until it gets out of control.
If you fail to pay monthly or skip monthly payments, you will also be charged 1% every month until you pay the full amount of the loan.
1. Eligibility Requirements
Before you can apply for a salary loan, you must meet these requirements. Anyway, if you are registered to their online platform, you will quickly know if you pass the eligibility requirements.
Otherwise, you as an SSS member-borrower…
- must be updated in the payment of contributions OF AT LEAST six contributions for the last 12 months.
- has not been granted final benefit, i.e., total permanent disability, retirement, and death
- must be under sixty-five (65) years of age at the time of application
- has not been disqualified due to fraud committed against the SSS.
If you are qualified with the requirements above, then you can proceed. Anyway, if you haven’t checked those things out, the SSS assistance personnel will inform you when you visit their branch.
2. Filling up the Form
You can download and print the SSS Application form directly from their website. Once you have it in print, fill out all the applicable details. Don’t worry if you are in doubt about some of its fields since an SSS personnel will review it.
The most important part is PART II which is to be filled out by your current employer. Drop by your employer’s office first before going to an SSS Branch and inform them of your intention. Have them fill up that part, too in advance. This will save you a ton amount of time and effort.
3. IDs Accepted
SSS digitized ID or E-6 (acknowledgment stub) with any two valid IDs below.
- Unexpired Driver’s License
- Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) ID card
- Passport
- Seaman’s Book (SIRB)
- Unified Multi-Purpose ID (UMID) Card
- Social Security (SS) Card
- Postal ID
- School or Company ID
- Tax Identification Number (TIN) card
- Membership cards issued by private companies
- Overseas Worker Welfare Administration card
- Senior Citizens card
- Voter’s Identification card/Affidavit/Certificate of Registration
- ATM card
- Etc.
There are a lot more secondary IDs listed but I will only post the common ones since seafarers have their primary IDs ready (SIRB and Passport).
4. Physical Appearance or online application.
Proceed to any SSS Branch. They will check your application form and other requirements if you are qualified. This will take about five to ten minutes. Once approved, proceed to the photocopy section and Mode of Loan Release.
Otherwise, you can submit your loan application online if you have an account with My.SSS. Your loan will also be forwarded to your employer, in this case, your manning agency to be reviewed within a specific deadline.
If they approve it, SSS will release the loan. Otherwise, you have to re-submit it again and inform your manning agency of your intention of getting a loan so that they will approve it.
5. Loan Release Options.
The SSS personnel will give you two options for the release of your loan. The first is through check and the second is cash card through UnionBank ePaycard or from other banks. I suggest you get the UnionBank ePaycard since this is the most comfortable and hassle-free option.
If through a check, they will send it to your employer’s office address, not to your home address.
A cash card is like your regular ATM card. If you use this option, the money will be directly sent to your cash card (ATM) account. You just have to wait and check your balance if the loan is credited.
It usually takes 15 working days to one month for your loan to arrive especially in check. But in my experience with a cash card, it only took 6 working days.
6. You are Almost Done.
After you decide which payment option you prefer, return it to the SSS personnel and give them the photocopy they asked you for. You have to sign some papers to finalize your loan.
You will also be given a copy of the Disclosure Statement for your loan. After this, proceed to the last step.
7. Paying Your SSS Salary Loan
Paying is very easy. Just log in to your My.SSS account and generate a reference number for your loan. Once you have the reference number, you should be able to pay it via online banking, Maya, or GCash.
It will also update in real time so after paying, log back in to your My.SSS account and check if the payment is updated. You will also see the remaining amount and the amortization amount for the next month.
Conclusion
It’s good to apply for an SSS salary loan since its interest is very low (10% annually) compared to any other financial institution. For the same amount, the bank may charge you for at least a 25% interest rate per annum.
You can use the money for any reason you want but I suggest you make a business or investment out of it. Just make sure that the return will exceed its annual interest rate.
Have you applied for your SSS salary loan?
May the winds be in your favor.
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