The Philippines Social Security System (SSS) has started paying funeral benefit claims through the banks and other alternative payment channels as the pension fund shifts its transactions online.

Effective 22nd June 2020, funeral benefits will no longer be released through cheques in an effort to go digital which will limit walk-in transactions for the safety of the members and SSS employees as well. All claims prior will still be paid through cheques

SSS President and CEO Aurora C. Ignacio said the cash benefit will be granted to anyone who pays for the funeral expenses of a deceased member.

The release of the benefit will now be done either through the ​Philippine Electronic Fund Transfer System and Operations Network’s ​(PESONet) participating banks, e-wallets​ (e.g., PayMaya) or Remittance Transfer Companies (RTCs)/Cash Payout Outlets (CPOs), in addition to the earlier launched mode of payment via Unified Multi-Purpose Identification (UMID) cards which was rolled out as an ATM card.

This article first appeared on fintechnews.sg