The Social Security System (SSS) has expanded its LoanLite microloan program through partnerships with banks, as its support for the government’s Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT).
SSS Butuan Branch Manager Arnold O. Pepino described the expansion in an interview with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Caraga on Oct. 7. PIA published the report on Oct. 15.
Pepino said the program is the agency’s response to a call from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. under UPLIFT. The call asks agencies to help SSS members address the impact of rising living costs.
LoanLite is open to voluntary, employed, and self-employed SSS members who have an account with a partner bank. The program began with Union Bank of the Philippines. “LoanLite started with the state insurer’s partnership with Union Bank of the Philippines, and now we have RCBC as another bank to strengthen and sustain the program,” Pepino said.
On the loan terms, Pepino said: “Under the program, members can apply for a loan from ₱1,000 to ₱20,000 with an annual interest rate of eight percent only, and payable within 15, 30, 60, and 90 days.”
Pepino also said SSS continues to encourage its pensioners to use the agency’s pension loan program. “With the current economic crisis, we have to make sure that if we file a loan, the interest rate should be affordable. Our pension loan program allows our pensioners to file a loan up to P200,000 with an interest rate of 10 percent per annum only,” he said. “They can pay the loan amount within six, 12, and 24 months.”
Pepino said pensioners do not have to pawn or surrender their automatic teller machine (ATM) card to receive the loan, unlike with lending institutions that charge higher interest rates. SSS deducts loan payments through its own system.
The PIA report did not state when the latest partnership took effect.
