SSS taps co-ops as collection agents

MANILA, Philippines – The Social Security System (SSS), the state-owned pension fund for private employees, has started accrediting cooperatives as its collecting agents to help self-employed and voluntary members pay their regular contributions and remit loan payments on time.

SSS president and chief executive officer Emilio de Quiros Jr. said this is among the measures put in place by the agency to help members.

Members, he said, would benefit from the easy and convenient remittance and fast posting of payments.

“Self-employed and voluntary members don’t have employers to facilitate their payments every month. They can do it now through an accredited cooperative,” De Quiros said.

There are a total of 78,611 registered cooperatives all over the country, according to the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA). About 23,800 are active and have a combined membership of over 5.8 million people.

Under the scheme, cooperatives can file their applications for accreditation at any SSS branch. They must submit documents such as articles of cooperation, by-laws, certification of registration with CDA and audited financial statements for the last three years.

“An SSS accreditation is an opportunity for cooperatives to earn additional income because SSS will pay them a service charge per transaction,” De Quiros said.

Those applying for accreditation must be registered with the CDA as a primary cooperative and must be in existence for at least three years immediately preceding the date of application.

“The cooperative must pass our financial evaluation and should be in good standing with SSS as a registered employer, which means it has no delinquent contributions and loan amortizations,” De Quiros said. –Iris C. Gonzales (The Philippine Star)