The Social Security System has launched a new digital microloan facility allowing qualified members to borrow from P1,000 to P20,000 for short-term financial needs.
In a press release, SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Joseph de Claro said the SSS Micro Loan Program, also called SSS LoanLite, is available to employed, self-employed, voluntary and overseas Filipino worker members who meet the eligibility requirements.
Members must have at least 12 posted monthly contributions to qualify.
The loanable amount depends on the average of the member’s 12 latest Monthly Salary Credits, or MSCs.
De Claro said repayment terms are available for 15, 30, 60 or 90 days, with an interest rate of 8 percent per year, equivalent to about 0.67 percent per month.
Members with at least 12 total contributions may borrow an amount equivalent to 11 percent of their average MSC for the last 12 months.
For example, a member with an average MSC of P20,000 and only 12 total contributions may borrow P2,200.
Those with at least 36 total contributions, including at least six contributions posted within the 12 months immediately before the application, may qualify for higher loan amounts of up to the P20,000 maximum.
To qualify, applicants must be at least 18 years old at the time of application and below 65 at the end of the loan term.
They must also have no past-due salary, calamity, emergency or other short-term member loans.
Members with existing short-term loans may still apply for LoanLite as long as those loans are not past due and they have no active SSS Micro Loan.
Applicants must also have no pending or settled final benefit claim, such as retirement or permanent total disability, unless the claim was previously cancelled because of re-employment, resumption of self-employment or recovery.
Those with an active restructured loan are not qualified, while members who have fully paid such loans must have completed the required restrictive period.
Applicants must also have an account enrolled in the online facility of a participating financial institution, no active SSS Micro Loan, and no record of fraud against the SSS.
Repayments will be collected through an automatic debit arrangement, primarily from the account where the loan proceeds were credited.
Members may apply for another LoanLite after fully paying their current microloan, subject to reporting by the participating financial institution.
The facility is currently available through the UnionDigital Bank mobile application.
The SSS said it is also working with Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, Land Bank of the Philippines and Union Bank of the Philippines to make LoanLite available through their respective digital platforms.*
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