The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) targets a hundred percent roll-out of the eCard Plus this year, as more than 98 percent of GSIS active members and pensioners have already availed of the all-in-one utility card as of end-2008.
Records from the GSIS showed that out of the 1.6 million GSIS active members and pensioners as of end-December last year, 1.57 million (1.24 million active members, 325,377 pensioners) have already enrolled in the eCard Plus.
Combined eCard Plus enrollees in Luzon and the National Capital Region (NCR) now total 821,866, while the Visayas and Mindanao each contributed 255,046 and 293,705, respectively, the GSIS said.
The GSIS eCard Plus is a smart card that combines the functions of an identification card, a discount card, a savings account, and even a debit card in VISA-accredited merchant stores. It also functions as an ATM card and can be used at any Bancnet, Megalink or Expressnet ATMs in the county.
Moreover, pensioners abroad who have an eCard Plus can already withdraw their monthly pension from any ATM under the VISA PLUS network at the currency of the country they’re in.
The eCard Plus can also be used in point-of-sale terminals in selected M. Lhuillier branches to withdraw pensions, for online banking and to access the GSIS Wireless Automated Processing System kiosk or GWAPS.
It can also facilitate loan transactions and the annual renewal of active status (ARAS) of survivorship pensioners through the G-W@PS. The ARAS is a requirement set by the GSIS to all its pensioners—whether old-age or survivorship—to ensure the guaranteed receipt of their monthly pension.
Adding to these benefits, the new eCard Plus is also honored as a discount card by GSIS partner-hospitals, such as University of Santo Tomas Hospital in Manila, Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City, Lorma Medical Center in San Fernando, La Union, Perpetual Help Succour Hospital in Cebu, and the Angeles University Foundation Medical Center in Pampanga, and the Davao Medical School Foundation Hospital (DMSF) in Davao.
Under the GSIS Hospitalization Support Program (GHSP), active GSIS members and old-age pensioners get a 30-percent discount on room rates, medicines and supplies and a 10-percent discount on doctors’ fees, on top of their PhilHealth benefits from GSIS’ partner-hospitals. They also get up to 40 percent discount on other medical procedures, as well as a 50-percent discount when using the state of the art medical equipment provided by the GSIS.
Soon, the eCard Plus will also be honored as a discount card in Iloilo.
“We are happy with the turn-out of our eCard Plus, an ambitious project we launched in 2006. This is part of our commitment to bring faster and efficient service to our members and pensioners,” GSIS President and General Manager Winston F. Garcia said.
