The Social Security Fund (abbreviated to FSS in Macao) indicated that as of October 14th, nearly 50,000 applications for making withdrawals from provident fund individual accounts were received.  Of which 20,996 applications submitted by elders aged 75 or older, individuals who have been receiving disability pension from the FSS for more than one year and individuals currently receiving special disability subsidy from the Social Welfare Bureau (SWB) were approved.  The money will be credited to their bank accounts tomorrow (October 21st) and FSS has begun to notify the above individuals of the outcome of applications by mail or via mobile text message (SMS).

Under the relevant laws, provident fund individual account owners eligible for making withdrawals can apply for withdrawals from their individual accounts only once a year.  Like last year, the FSS this year again accepted the applications in phases by age group.  As of October 14th, most applications submitted in the first phase by elders aged 75 or older, individuals who have been receiving disability pension from the FSS for more than one year and individuals currently receiving special disability subsidy from the SWB have been approved.  The money will be credited tomorrow (October 21st) to the bank accounts designated by 20,996 qualified applicants.

As for the remaining cases which are still being processed because the applications are incomplete or supplementary documents are required, the FSS will get them processed as soon as possible.  For elders aged between 65 and 74 whose applications for withdrawals were submitted in the second phase and have been approved, they will get their money on November 22nd at the earliest.

For more information about the provident fund individual accounts, members of the public can visit the FSS’ website at http://www.fss.gov.mo/en/rpc/levantamento, call the 24-hour interactive voice response hotline at 2823 0230 or call 2853 2850 during office hours.