GSIS Loans: Everything You Need to Know

The government provides loans in the Philippines to assist individuals, business owners, retirees, and unemployed citizens with their financial needs.

Of course, Filipinos can readily access credit facilities from private organizations. However, the high-interest rates of private lenders and the absence of sufficient collateral could deny many the opportunity to get loans from private lenders.

Therefore, many persons in the country would instead get a loan from government offerings like the Government Service Insurance Scheme (GSIS). The GSIS offers reduced interest demands, higher amounts, and longer terms. Here, we’ll examine the GSIS loan facility from start to finish, including its types, requirements, and limitations for Filipinos.

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What Is GSIS Loan?

GSIS came into existence under an Act known as the GSIS Act (1997). The essence of the scheme was to receive monthly contributions from members of the system and offer a range of advantages to protecting the members from potential financial emergencies in return.

This scheme is a contemporary of the Social Security System (SSS), which assists workers in the private sector and citizens in other forms of employment in accessing credit facilities. The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is a social insurance organization that offers its services to government workers alone. However, there are exceptions to government workers who may benefit from the scheme.

Exempted Government Workers From GSIS

• Associates of the country’s Judiciary and Constitutional commissions.

• Barangay and Sanggunian officials (as they don’t have a fixed monthly wage).

• AFP and PNP (and the Bureau of Jail Management & Penology and the Bureau of Fire Protection) members in uniform.

• Contractual employees.

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Requirements For GSIS Loan

The general requirements for the GSIS Loan are similar to other government-provided credit facilities. Qualified recipients must have no unconcluded administrative or criminal case. Also, government employees on a “leave without pay” can’t apply for a loan. Lastly, the employee’s net income must be up to the amount stipulated under the General Appropriations Act.

Apart from the above general GSIS loan requirements, some loans often have unique demands for each loan type. We’ll examine the specific requirements for each GSIS personal loan type when we begin describing the different loan offers of the system.

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How To Apply For A Loan In GSIS Online?

Although the GSIS loan is accessible offline, the government recently created an online platform to ease the application and access to credit facilities.

In 2016, GSIS floated its official website to assist members in accessing their accounts online. The advantage of that provision is that workers can save time they could have expended on traveling to government offices or waiting in long queues.

However, members of the GSIS can also apply for their loans online. Following is the step-by-step process for a GSIS loan application online.

Step 1

Download the form via gsis.gov.ph/downloadable-forms.

Step 2

Complete the form and get ready the following documents in either jpeg or pdf formats, as required:

1. A clear photograph of the borrower holding their GSIS UMID electronic card (or temporary e-Card).
2. Where (i) is unavailable, the borrower should present photos of two valid identity cards (front and back) and 
3. Take a clear photo of themselves holding both cards.
4. Appropriately completed application form.

Step 3

Create an electronic mail containing all the documents with the required subject line.

Step 4

Send the files via electronic mail.

• For NCR (Cavite, Quezon City, Rizal Province inclusive), members should send the mail to [email protected].

• For North Luzon, members should send the mail to [email protected]

• Members in South Luzon should email [email protected]

• For members in Mindanao areas, the email to reach is [email protected]

• Each mail must not exceed 2 MB in size.

According to the government’s official directive on the GSIS online application process, members should wait for the following after sending the mail:

• An email acknowledgment from GSIS

• A Tentative Loan Computation and Loan Conformity

• A notification of incomplete or non-compliant documents (if applicable).

The eGSISMO allows members in the Philippines to monitor the status of their loan applications and claims via egsismo.gsis.gov.ph.

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Types Of GSIS Loan

Let’s examine the different types of GSIS Memberships before we look into the different GSIS loan types. There are three significant forms of GSIS Membership. They include;

1. Active Members: Those currently in service under the concerned government agencies.
2. Old Age Pensioners: These are retired government employees receiving returns from GSIS based on their contributions to the system.

1. Survivorship Pensioners: These are the dependents of a retired or deceased GSIS member.

The loan offers available on the GSIS system vary among different membership types in the system. We’ll begin with the forms of GSIS loans available to Active Members.

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Types Of GSIS Service Loans

The main types of GSIS loans are:

1. Consolidated Loans

This loan type combines five different loan types. It’s therefore called the Enhanced Conso-Loan Plus Program. The loan types under the GSIS consolidated loans include:

• Salary Loan

• Emergency Loan Assistance

• Summer One-Month Salary

• Enhanced Salary Loan

• Restructured Salary Loan.

Qualifications For The GSIS Conso-Loans

The following groups of persons are qualified for a GSIS Conso loan:

1. Active members of the GSIS, regardless of whether or not they are permanent. However, the active members must:   

• Not be on leave of absence without pay.

• Not have any pending administrative or criminal case.

2. Have a net salary not less than the minimum amount after lessening the repayment (according to the General Appropriations Act).

3. Have a minimum of PHP 15,000 computed “loanable” amount using a GSIS salary loan calculator.

4. Judiciary, constitutional commission members, and prosecutors can also use the loan for ten times their net income.

Credit Limits On The Conso-Loan

The following table shows the most recent credit limit for GSIS members based on their years of government service. These figures are needed when utilizing a GSIS loan calculator.

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2. Emergency Loan

GSIS members affected by unpleasant situations may take a GSIS emergency loan. The condition for the emergency loan is that the calamity reaches an extent deemed “adverse” enough based on the government’s assessment.

The emergency loan includes a credit facility of up to PHP 20,000 that the member could repay in three years (or in a maximum of 36 monthly payments). Its interest rate is 6% per annum. Moreover, a loan renewal would transfer the former loan’s balance to the new loan’s proceeds.

Eligibility

To qualify for a GSIS calamity loan, a member should:

• Be an employee or resident in the calamity-hit area;
• Be an active member who is not on unpaid leave
• Owe nothing in contributions to the insurance system
• Have no record of not repaying loans
• Policy Loan.

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3. The GSIS Policy Loan

The GSIS policy loan allows members to utilize their life insurance policy. It comes at an 8% interest rate and lets members pay monthly or rake away the amount from an existing insurance policy.

Eligibility

The members eligible for the policy loan include those insured for up to one year. Also, they must have up-to-date premium payments (including active policies).

How Much is the GSIS Policy Loan?

The amount loanable under the GSIS Policy loan varies based on the insurance policy type of the employer. ELP members can apply for up to 70% of the total termination value. LEP members may take 50% of their cash value.

Other Significant Benefits of GSIS

GSIS offers members different benefits, ranging from life insurance to disability privileges to retirement plans.

However, each member’s advantages differ based on their type of membership, their amount of contributions, and their account history. We’ll examine some of the significant benefits of GSIS, apart from the service loans discussed above.

1. GSIS Life Insurance Coverage

All GSIS members are required to have life insurance coverage. GSIS Life Insurance Coverage includes two separate sub-divisions: The Life Endowment Policy (LEP) and the Enhanced Life Policy (ELP).

2. The Life Endowment Policy (LEP)

This policy refers to the initial structure of the GSIS life assurance scheme. The LEP assists members who began working for the Philippine government before August 1, 2003. Some of the benefits available to beneficiaries include:

·  Maturity benefit

·  Cash surrender value

·  Death benefit

·  Policy loan

·  Dividends

3. Enhanced Life Policy (ELP)

ELP provides yearly insurance coverage based on the employee’s monthly salary. New GSIS members, LEP members, and employees who began working after July 31, 2003, can reap the benefits of this Enhanced Salary Loan from GSIS. The benefits of the loan include:

·  Policy loan

·  Dividends

·  Death benefits

·  Cash termination value upon retirement or separation from service.

4. Pension Loan

The Enhanced Pension Loan program is the arm of GSIS Loans for pensioners. Regardless of their age, old-age pensioners may borrow up to six times their basic monthly pension from the system.

However, they may not borrow more than PHP 500,000. Also, what’s left of the pensioners’ net monthly income after offsetting the loan must be at least one-quarter of their basic monthly pension.

Old age pensioners may apply for the loan via the eGSISMO, email designated email addresses listed on the GSIS site, or apply over the counter.

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Conclusion

We’ve seen the different loan types available to government workers in the Philippines under the GSIS. The system offers immense advantages to workers, pensioners, and citizens in calamity-hit areas. Finally, applying for a GSIS process is relatively straightforward, and the loan’s terms are pretty favorable compared to the terms of private lenders.