GSIS launches e-kiosks to speed up transactions

State-run pension fund Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS) launched yesterday a secure, paperless, end-to-end electronic transaction system that will allow its members to transact business just like using an automated teller machine (ATM).

Known as the G-W@PS, the system will be housed in kiosks using the wireless technology of the two biggest telecommunications companies: country’s Smart Telecommunications and Globe Telecom.

The GSIS said it will allocate more than P70 million for the establishment of the kiosks, or GW@PS centers, at a cost of P70,000 per kiosk. It plans to put up 8,000 kiosks nationwide with the first 1,000 targeted by end 2007.

Union Bank of the Philippines will act as the clearing house for loan transactions. The bank is also GSIS’s partner in the utilization of its e-Card Plus.

The first kiosk has already been established in Camiguin, with the next kiosks to be located in Batanes, Tawi-Tawi and Romblon.

GSIS president and general manager Winston F. Garcia said the kiosks represent the first of its kind in the Philippines although the technology is not unique to the global community.

"The GSIS is the first to use the system in the world," Garcia said. "It will empower the members to generate loans at their fingertips."

The system can accommodate transactions worth a combined P100 billion, or two-million loan transactions, including remittances for government employees deployed overseas.

Garcia said members using the system are allowed a three-month grace period to settle their loans as among the incentives for adopting the new technology.

G-W@PS is a five-step process starting with the applying for a loan at the G-W@PS center. Using his eCard Plus, a member places the card in front of the radio frequency card reader. The card is embedded with a radio frequency identification device (RFID) microchip.

Members apply for the loan following instructions displayed at the touch screen monitor. He is then asked to have his fingerprint scanned before his application is processed. The biometrics system, also embedded in the card, replaces the need for signatures.

The loan application is electronically sent to the agency where the member is employed. In a separate computer terminal, the agency authorized officer will approve or disapprove the loan application.