One
of the good things about having a Virtual Pag-IBIG account is that it
allows users to view their premiums, as well as the dividends they have
earned from the very beginning. This is crucial because most of the
time, ordinary employees are oblivious to how much they have
contributed. Many of them aren't sure either if their employers even
remit or have remitted their premiums in the past. After all, Pag-IBIG
premiums are a law-mandated contribution, so many people don't even
bother as much about it as they do when, say, an odd deduction shows up
in their payslips.
Apart
from the ability to view their premiums, users are also able to view
their MP2 contributions, link their housing loan for online payment, and
check the status of their existing loans.
Albeit it broke
through a tad late, Pag-IBIG deserves props for introducing this new
feature, given how in the past, a Pag-IBIG member would need to head to a
brick and mortar branch of the agency to be able to do any of the
things mentioned above.
Major inconvenience
Signing
up for a Virtual Pag-IBIG account is easy and may be done in three
ways. One, users may link their Pag-IBIG Loyalty Card Plus to create an
account. Two, OFWs needing an account may go to an online portal where
they can sign up for one. And three, all other users may simply register
online where they key in their MID number, upload a scanned copy of any
valid government-issued ID, then do a liveness test by taking a selfie
holding said ID.
But here's the kicker: activating a Virtual
Pag-IBIG account is a major inconvenience that sadly doesn't have clear
and logical justification.
This is because those who have signed
up online need to visit an actual Pag-IBIG branch to have their
accounts activated. Obviously, this is counter-intuitive, considering
all that has been done in the prior online sign-up process.
Even
worse, users don't really need to do anything when they visit a
Pag-IBIG branch; they just hand in a photocopy of the ID they have
uploaded already and which they held in their selfies as part of the
liveness test and then leave. They are then told to wait for an SMS
within 24 hours to confirm that their accounts are ready for use.
Visiting
a branch to hand in a sheet of paper defeats the entire purpose of
having a Virtual Pag-IBIG account. And even if one is not inclined to
complain about this step, note that queues in Pag-IBIG offices are
normally long, so waiting for an hour or two just to hand in a photocopy
of an ID that has already been uploaded constitutes sheer bureaucratic
hubris.
Pag-IBIG should reconsider eliminating this step and
commit to activate new accounts by conducting verification and
authentication of identities online.