Compulsory use of payment reference numbers for short-term SSS loan payments starts April 1

Computer-generated payment reference numbers (PRNs) will be required for short-term loan payments starting April 1, 2021, state fund Social Security System (SSS) said. Billing months to be covered by this system will be from March 2021 and onwards.

The PRN, a system-generated number corresponding to an individual member’s loan billing statement (self-employed, voluntary, Overseas Filipino Worker) or employer, helps facilitate the immediate and correct posting of loan payments their matching loan accounts.

SSS President and CEO Aurora C. Ignacio said the SSS started to implement the use of PRNs for short-term member loan payments last year as part of the fund’s Real-Time Processing of Loans (RTPL) program. Transactions covered by the system include salary, calamity, emergency, and restructured loans.

“Since November 2020, we have been sending loan billing notices to member-borrowers and employers. This loan billing statement or notice contains a corresponding PRN, which individual members and employers must present when paying at SSS branches with Automated Tellering System (ATS) or any RTPL-compliant collecting partner,” Ignacio said. From the first to the sixth day of every month, the SSS generates loan billing statements and notices with PRNs sent to individual members and employers via email and registered mobile numbers.

In case individual members need to modify the amount to be paid in the said statement, they may do so by using their My.SSS account or at SSS branches.

Employers, on the other hand, can make changes only through the My.SSS account, where they must also submit an electronic-Loan Collection List (e-LCL). They may download these lists from the SSS accounts for offline editing before submission.

When paying, individual members or employers can either print out a copy or capture a screenshot of the PRN Loans Statement of Account with the corresponding barcode, accessed through the “RTPL PRN” module of their My.SSS accounts that are found on the SSS website (www.sss.gov.ph). They may also present the SMS of loans PRN received from the SSS.

Aside from SSS branches with ATS, loan payments with PRN of individual members and employers are also accepted through RTPL-compliant partners, Security Bank, and Union Bank of the Philippines.

Employers may also course PRN loan payments through BancNet’s eGov facility via the Asia United Bank (local), Bank of Commerce, China Bank Corporation, CTBC Bank, Metropolitan Bank, and Trust Company, MUFG Bank, Philippine Bank of Communications, Philippine National Bank (local), Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, Robinsons Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and United Coconut Planters Bank.

Individual members may also repay their loans using PRNs with foreign branches of the Philippine National Bank.

Other SSS collecting partners are currently undergoing system enhancement and testing to become RTPL-compliant. The SSS will issue advisories once these can start accepting loan payments with PRN.

RTPL-compliant SSS collecting partners will only accept loan payments with PRN to avoid potential posting errors on PRN and non-PRN systems’ parallel use.

After payment, individual members and employers will receive a notification through email or SMS confirming their payment and posting.

Non-PRN loan payments—including those from employers via the Electronic Data Interchange Net facility—will be accepted only until March 31, 2021, through SSS collecting partners (bank or non-bank) that are not yet compliant with the RTPL system requirements and SSS branches with ATS.

Educational Assistance Loans (EALs) are not yet included in the PRN billing system. Members with EALs may still pay through any SSS branch with ATS or SSS collecting partner using the existing ML1 payment form until further notice.

The SSS launched the RTPL program in November 2019 as part of its compliance with the President of the Philippines’ directive to digitize business processes, in line with the Ease of Doing Business Act of 2018. Since then, the SSS has continued to develop the program to benefit its members and covered employers through short-term member loan process enhancements such as the online filing of salary and calamity loans, loan disbursements through Philippine Electronic Fund Transfer System and Operations Network (PESONet) participating banks, and the use of PRN for loan payments.

For more information, follow the SSS on Facebook and YouTube at “Philippine Social Security System,” Instagram at “mysssph,” Twitter at “PHLSSS,” or join the SSS Viber Community at “MYSSSPH Updates.” ###