90% of GSIS members now eCard bearing

Approximately 90 percent of all active members of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) have been issued an eCard Plus as of end-2007, the state pension fund for government employees announced during the weekend.

Based on the GSIS figures, 1.220 million out of the 1.355 million active members have already enrolled and activated their eCards.

The eCard allows members to transact with GSIS and avail the host of benefits due to them through automated teller machines (ATM) spread across the country.

A number of operating units has submitted records of their respective membership base, showing full enrollment. Among these are Batangas, with 41,598 members; Laoag with 22,990 members; La Union and Abra, with 19,136 members; Legazpi, with 26,381 members; Palawan, with 13,112 members; Pampanga, with 25,523 members; Sorsogon, Masbate and Butuan, with 20,664 members; Davao with 29,465 members; Dumaguete and Siquijor, with 18,765 members; General Santos, with 27,335 members; Kidapawan, with 13,770 members; Maasin, with 9,718 members; and Roxas, with 19,370 members.

GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia said the eCard Plus offers a multitude of benefits to members.

“From being an ATM card to something that helps facilitate loan transactions completely offsite, the eCard Plus is the ultimate in smart card technology,” he said.

Garcia said the eCard system concept is part of GSIS’ program of making the lives of its members and pensioners easier.

The eCard Plus was launched in Oct. 1, 2006, right at the time the GSIS Wireless Automated Processing System (G-W@PS) kiosk was also first introduced.

Working in synergy, the eCard Plus and the G-W@PS kiosk serve as a virtual GSIS office wherein members can check their records in seconds and apply for loans in mere minutes, such as the P10,000-Cash Advance and the Consolidated Loan.

On the other hand, pensioners can use the eCard Plus and the G-W@PS kiosk to renew their active status during their birth month, thus ensuring the continuous receipt of their monthly pension benefits.

The first beneficiaries of the eCard Plus and the G-W@PS were members living in island provinces such as Camiguin, Abra, Romblon, Coron, Masbate, Vorac, Siquijor, and Batanes.

Aside from providing access to the G-W@PS kiosk, the eCard Plus also serves as an official GSIS ID card, ATM card, debit card and hospitalization discount card in select partner-hospitals in the Philippines under the GSIS Hospitalization Support Program.