(This post is updated on August 12, 2024.)
My SSS salary loan check was delivered to my address a week ago. How long did it take? Four days short of a month. Fast, right? I thought so, too.
The most surprising thing about the application was that it was a breeze. Yes, it takes patience when using the SSS online portal but once you obtain access – applying for a salary loan is so easy.
SSS Salary Loan Application for Self-Employed or Voluntary Members
You have already signed up for my.sss, you know your user ID and password by heart, and your internet connection is reliable. Those are three assumptions I’m making.
Now, once you’ve logged on successfully to your my.sss page, your first assignment is to find the ELIGIBILITY tab, and select “loan” from the drop-down options (as illustrated below).
As a self-employed or voluntary member, you have no employer. Simply click the box as indicated on this image. Your Employer ID Number will be then automatically generated. Click “Submit”.
Now, here’s the exciting part: how much salary loan can you apply for? SSS requires at least 36 monthly contributions to qualify for a one-month salary loan. Here’s how it looks ( I erased some details for privacy reasons but from your end, you will be able to view the amount of loan you can get):
Since I have 40 posted contributions, I’m eligible! I hope you are, too. If you click the Loan Disclosure Statement, you will get a copy of the full details of your SSS salary loan.
The day after I filed this loan online, I checked the Loan Status and it was approved! Then, I obsessively monitored its status the following days. To my frustration, the same message appeared: CHECK GENERATED.
SSS Text Service: Not Helpful in Tracking SSS Salary Loan
I wonder why no one ever talks about how unhelpful SSS text service is. Neil already warned me that tracking my salary loan through SSS SMS was, at best, useless.
To illustrate, this is the answer I got when I inquired via SSS text about my SSS loan status (it costs Php 2.50 to send this message):
Curious me, I still tried. I thought if a service exists, then it must be helpful. Only to prove how Neil was right. The SSS SMS service can’t tell you any significant info about your SSS loan status.
You’d have a better chance of knowing by visiting the POST OFFICE and asking their staff for your SSS check. I did. And after a weekend, I got my check.
In hindsight, I thought I would still get my SSS salary loan within a month. After all, it’s a loan with interest and SSS benefits from members who borrow from their own savings.
Know a voluntary or self-employed SSS member? Share this post to her/him. Happy encashing! 🙂
*Please note that I’m located in Cebu so my circumstances might be different. I’m also not an employee of SSS, I just made a promise to share my experience with their service once I receive my loan.
Also Read: “What You Need to Know About the New SSS Maternity Benefits 2019“
2024 Salary Loan Application for Self-Employed: An Update
While there’s no evidence to support the rumor that unused SSS loans might be misused internally, I still prefer to take advantage of the loan privilege when I need extra cash.
The good news is that getting a salary loan through the MySSS website is now incredibly convenient. You no longer have to wait for checks to arrive in the mail.
Instead, you can choose to receive the loan amount directly through Gcash or a bank account, making the process faster and easier. It took me less than three days to receive my SSS salary loan via my BPI account.
Have you tried the new SSS loan disbursement process yet? What was it like? Share them in the comments below!