New portal for online payments to social security

Authorities on Thursday presented the new portal for online payments of social insurance contributions which will be launched on Friday.

The use of ‘SISnet’ will be made obligatory as of January 25.

People will be able to pay their contributions to the social security services online. Payments can be made both by debit or credit card, or by direct debit.

Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou, who presented the new online system with deputy minister for innovation Kyriacos Kokkinos said the goal was to use all modern tools offered by technology for the best and most direct and full service for all employees and employers.

She added that the most important advantages of the introduction of the internet payment system for social security services were, among other things, the immediate, round-the-clock service of the public without travel and waiting lines and transaction security.

Furthermore, employers, employees and the self-employed will have access to the history of their transactions and their insurance account at any time while the social security services will be able to directly export statistics and other data.

According to the labour minister, it was estimated that with the abolition of payments at social insurance offices, €2.6 million per year will be saved.

“This initiative is part of a holistic approach followed by the state to implement the digital transformation, with multiple benefits for society as a whole,” Kokkinos said.

Digital solutions, he added, offer flexibility, convenience but also security and reduce the need for people’s physical presence for transactions, such as paying social security, while also contributing significantly to improving the quality of service and increasing the efficiency of public service.

“Our mission is the continuous upgrade of the quality of service that we provide as a state to members of the public and businesses but also the substantial improvement of the quality of life of the citizens by using technology,” he said.

The labour ministry called on all those who are still visiting the offices of the social insurance services to pay contributions, to register on time on the online system.

Registration to the ‘SISnet’ will be made only electronically, the ministry said.

In the second phase, scheduled for the end of February 2021, people will be able to also pay overdue amounts online.

More information and instructions on how to us the system can be found at www.sisweb.mlsi.gov.cy .