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The September Pension Payment Schedule in Ho Chi Minh City: Payments to Resume Post-National Day Holiday

20 August, 2024

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Social Insurance Payment Schedule and Methods in Ho Chi Minh City

According to Decision No. 166/QD-BHXH by the Vietnam Social Insurance, the Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance agency has announced the schedule for monthly pension and social insurance allowance payments. Payments are made on the 1st of every month for non-cash payment methods and on the 2nd for cash payments.

PENSIONERS CAN CHOOSE THEIR PREFERRED PAYMENT METHOD

In cases where the payment date falls on a holiday, weekend, or any other non-working day as stipulated by law, the payment will be made on the next working day of that month.

For the month of September 2024, due to the National Day holiday period extending from August 31 to September 3, 2024, the Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance agency has adjusted the payment schedule. For cash payments, the Ho Chi Minh City Post Office will organize payments from September 4 to September 10 at all payment points. From September 11 to September 25, payments will be made at the transaction points of the Central Post Office.

For non-cash payments, the Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance agency will transfer the money to the recipients’ accounts from September 4 to September 5.

The Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance agency requests the City Post Office, the Thu Duc City Social Insurance agency, and the district-level Social Insurance agencies to inform the recipients accordingly.

Recently, the Vietnam Social Insurance announced that starting from August 1, the Social Insurance agencies in 43 provinces and cities have been directly transferring monthly pension and social insurance allowances to the personal accounts of the recipients.

From September 1 onwards, this direct transfer method will be implemented in the remaining 20 localities. This has raised questions among the public about whether it will be mandatory to receive pensions through bank accounts from September onwards.

Regarding this issue, the Vietnam Social Insurance clarified that according to the current Law on Social Insurance, employees have the right to receive full and timely pension and social insurance allowances through one of the following payment methods: directly from the Social Insurance agency or an authorized service organization; through the employee’s bank account; or through their employer.

Therefore, receiving the allowance through a bank account is a right of the recipient and not mandatory. As for receiving the payment through an ATM card or e-wallet, this is not stipulated in the Law on Social Insurance.

However, starting from September 1, the direct transfer method through bank accounts will be implemented in the remaining 20 provinces and cities.

This means that the Vietnam Social Insurance will directly handle the pension payments through bank accounts, without involving a third party, as the recipient’s information is already in their system. Meanwhile, cash payments in the provinces and cities will still be made through the Vietnam Post Office.

PREPARING FOR NATIONWIDE ROLL-OUT OF DIRECT TRANSFERS IN SEPTEMBER

At a recent online conference to evaluate the results of monthly social insurance payments through personal accounts, for the August payment cycle, and the deployment plan for September 2024, Mr. Le Hung Son, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam Social Insurance, assessed that the direct transfer method has brought about many practical benefits.

Pension payment to recipients. Photo: Thu Hien.

For recipients, it ensures speed, safety, and convenience. For the Social Insurance agency, it helps save management costs, time, and improve efficiency, while also enhancing the quality of beneficiary management and ensuring tightness.

Therefore, the social insurance industry is actively completing its information technology system. At the same time, they are coordinating with other units, especially banks, to best serve the people in receiving their social insurance benefits.

Despite the achievements, there are still some problems and obstacles in the process. For example, the software data processing speed needs to be improved, and the connection between the systems of the Social Insurance agency and the banks needs to be more stable.

There have also been cases of inaccurate beneficiary information, delayed payments compared to the announced schedule, and complex bank application processes that have caused difficulties for some users. As a result, there has been some negative feedback from society regarding the social insurance payments for August 2024.

Some banks have also faced challenges in upgrading their beneficiary data systems. There have been connection issues between the Vietnam Social Insurance and bank systems, leading to duplicate payments to recipients. Overload and software congestion during the payment period have also not been completely resolved…

Social Insurance agencies in some localities have proactively prepared the necessary conditions to implement direct transfers from September onwards, including verifying the personal information and account details of pension and monthly social insurance allowance recipients to ensure accuracy.

They are also coordinating with banks to prepare other necessary conditions, especially in addressing any issues that may arise, to ensure timely payments to recipients according to the specified schedule.

According to statistics from the Vietnam Social Insurance, there are currently nearly 3.4 million people receiving monthly pension and social insurance allowances nationwide. In urban areas, about 74% of beneficiaries receive social insurance benefits and unemployment allowances through personal accounts, an increase of about 10% compared to 2023.