GSIS uses ATMs to deliver pensioners’ benefits

The benefits of surviving pensioners of state-owned Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) can be withdrawn from any of its 6,000 automated teller machines (ATMs) in the country using the GSIS eCard Plus, the agency said during the weekend.

“By 2008, our survivorship pensioners will be enjoying the numerous benefits of the eCard Plus, including the ease by which they can receive their monthly pension using any Bancnet, Megalink or Expressnet ATM,” GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia said in a statement.

Under the present system, pensioners get their monthly benefit checks from GSIS. This means that they need to wait for weeks for their checks to be printed, mailed, deposited, and cleared for three days before they can withdraw their pension money.

Starting next year, their pensions will be electronically credited to the eCard Plus. Unlike checks, they can instantly withdraw their pension using any of the 6,000 ATMs nationwide.

“We are calling on all survivorship pensioners who have not yet enrolled to the eCard Plus to enroll now in their respective GSIS servicing office,” Garcia said.

To enroll, pensioners need two valid identification cards and need to have their fingerprint biometrics scanned and recorded.

The eCard Plus will be mailed to the address given by the survivorship pensioner a few weeks after enrollment.

Those qualified to receive survivorship pension include qualified spouse and dependents of active members who died while in the service and have met the service and contribution requirements and old-age pensioners.

Their pension benefits vary depending on the years of creditable service of the member. For the survivors of deceased members who have 15 years or more of creditable service, if the member died while in the service, the survivorship benefit shall be the survivorship pension and cash payment equivalent to 18 times the basic monthly pension.

For members who died while no longer active in the service and had previously served for 15 years or more in the service, the survivorship benefit shall be the survivorship pension only.

For those who died while in the service and had served less than 15 years of creditable service, the cash payment benefit of the survivor shall be an amount equivalent to 100 percent of the average monthly compensation for every year of creditable service of the member.

For those who died as an inactive member and was less than 60 years old at the time of death, the cash payment and benefit of their survivor shall be an amount equivalent to 100 percent of the average monthly compensation for every year of creditable service, but not less than P12,000, provided that the deceased member had at least three years of creditable service.

The survivors of members who died with the status of an inactive member and were at least 60 years old at the time of separation from the service shall not be entitled to receive survivorship benefits.

Applications for survivorship benefits should be filed within four years from the death of the member or pensioner.