GSIS introduces online service

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) launched recently e-GSIS, the first online service in the Philippine bureaucracy.

Through e-GSIS, which can be accessed by logging on to www.gsis.gov.ph, members can browse their individual GSIS records anytime and anywhere. They can also check out any information on their policies, loans or claims in the internet.

Thus, without leaving his office or the privacy of his home, a GSIS member can take a quick look at or download his statement of accounts and all his transactions on his policy, salary, emergency and housing loans. He can also view the tentative computation of his cash surrender value. A user-friendly tutorial that provides a step by step guide is available in the site. The tutorial takes the surfing member on a tour of its features and shows him how to optimize its use.

For members who don’t have e-mail accounts, e-GSIS can help in creating a Yahoo or Hotmail account.

e-GSIS has a "Contact Us" facility which will serve as a communication link to GSIS, ensuring members that their opinions and suggestions are heard and acted upon. It can also be a vehicle for correcting discrepancies in the members’ records viewed through the site.

Soon, e-GSIS will allow GSIS members to send loan and other applications online. Much later, it will pave the way for a real paperless environment where making and receiving payments can be done on-line.

The inquiry system is just one of the initial phases of e-GSIS. The first phase, which was launched last year, was the revamp of the static website to make way for an interactive, user-friendly and easy-to-navigate site. The new website offers comprehensive information on the GSIS as well as its benefits and services.

An interesting feature of the website is the online calculator which can compute retirement benefits, loan proceeds and monthly amortizations on GSIS’ salary, pension and housing loan programs.

In the case of retirement benefits under 8291, for instance, a member just have to key in his date of retirement, years of services and average monthly compensation to get the approximate value of his lump sum and monthly pension. To see how much salary loan he will receive and the monthly installment in paying back such, he only needs to key in his basic salary and the loan term he prefers.

The site also offers important information on Survivorship Benefits – a must for all survivors and beneficiaries of government employees. A detailed presentation on employee compensation, disability and separation benefits can also be browsed through in the site.

Other informative pages of the site include those on the Bahay Ko program where members will be able to have a closer view of 12 suggested house designs (members now have the option to adopt their own design) crafted by seasoned architects. The designs have their corresponding floor plans, computations for the loanable amount and the monthly amortization on the loan, including a lsit of requirements that a borrower must submit.