The Social Security System (SSS) said that they have approved more than 4,300 unemployment benefit applications filed online since they implemented the new online procedure.
The highest number of online applicants came from Luzon with 1,697, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) with 972 applicants, Visayas, Mindanao, with 894 and 822 applicants respectively.
“From June 22 to July 6, 2020, we already released an initial P59.80 million worth of unemployment benefits to 4,392 qualified members who submitted their online application thru their My.SSS accounts. We expect that these figures will continue to increase as more companies announced retrenchment and closure of businesses due to the pandemic crisis.” SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora C. Ignacio said in a statement.
The SSS said that in terms of the mode of disbursement, there are 99 percent of the members who received their cash benefits through their savings accounts. Meanwhile, the remaining one percent received their unemployment benefits through their Unified Multipurpose Identification (UMID) Card enrolled as ATM or through Remittance Transfer Companies (RTC)/ Cash Payout Outlets (CPO).
“As part of our digital transformation efforts, SSS aside from shifting its transactions online is also geared towards a checkless payment system,” Ignacio added.
The SSS explained that before submitting unemployment benefit application online, members should have their own My.SSS account through registration at the SSS Website. The disbursement account should also be registered in their My.SSS accounts through Bank Enrollment Module (BEM) and proceed to the E-services tab and click Bank Enrollment. From there, members can select their preferred PESONet participating bank, e-wallet, or RTC/CPO and enter their correct bank account number or mobile number.
Upon successful registration, members should log in to My.SSS account and click “apply for the unemployment benefit claim” under the E-Services tab. Members must provide all the information such as their active savings account enrolled in the Bank Enrollment Module (BEM), employment category, date and reason of involuntary separation, and the employer’s name where they were separated.
Unemployment benefit is equivalent to half of their average monthly salary credit (AMSC) for a maximum of two months. The cash benefit ranges from the minimum amount of P1,200 up to the maximum amount of P16,800, if involuntary separated in July 2020.
For further queries, members may call the SSS hotline at 1455 or the Interactive Voice Response System facility at 7917-7777. They may also follow the official Facebook page, “Philippine Social Security System,” Instagram Account “Mysss.ph,” or Twitter Feed “PHLSSS” for more information. (SSS)
