On the importance of personalized accounting and how to check your future pension in the FSZN app

This year marks the 23rd anniversary of the establishment of individual (personalized) accounting of insured persons in the state social insurance system on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. Why is the implementation of this centralized electronic resource important? What information does it contain? Where and for what purposes are its data used? These and other questions were answered by Anna BOYKACHOVA, head of the Zhlobin District Office of the Gomel Regional Administration of FSZN.

– Anna Vladimirovna, what is the purpose of implementing personalized accounting? And has anything changed over the years of the accounting system's existence?

– I would first note that the purpose of personalized accounting is to establish a close link between the pension amount and the pensioners' past earnings, as well as the duration of the period during which the insured person and their employer paid mandatory insurance contributions into the budget of the Social Protection of the Population Fund (FSZN). It was the implementation of this system that eliminated cases of submitting documents for pension determination that did not correspond to reality.

The essence of personalized accounting has not changed over 23 years. The main task remains the collection of the most complete and reliable information individually for each citizen about the periods of their employment and other activities, earnings, and the contributions calculated and paid.

• How are records of citizens' employment and their payment of insurance contributions stored?

– Wherever a citizen works at different stages of their life, whether it is employment under an employment contract (including part‑time), a civil‑law contract, or engagement in entrepreneurial or other activities, information about their tenure and the payments on which mandatory insurance contributions were calculated and from which they were paid, in accordance with the procedures and deadlines set by law, is transmitted to FSZN and stored on the individual's personal account.

• If a person needs data for pension determination, does the Fund provide them?

Yes. Moreover, today the information about a citizen’s service period and earnings, required for the calculation of a pension for the period since 2003, is provided by the FSZN to labor, employment and social protection authorities without the involvement of the person applying for the pension, in the form of a statement from the individual account. In addition, since 2024, the data from the personalized accounting are used for determining temporary disability benefits and maternity benefits. This, in turn, has allowed the process of assigning benefits to be optimized and simplified and has reduced the number of errors in their calculation.

Can a citizen find out the data of their individual account?

Of course. Today every citizen has become an active participant in their pension future. They can control the process of contributions and changes to the information on their individual account, as well as the fact that mandatory insurance contributions are paid on their behalf, i.e., personally monitor whether everything is in order with the formation of their social and pension rights. To do this, it is enough to submit an application (in person or in writing) to any territorial office of the Fund. I note that since 2023, one can remotely view information about their employment history for the period of personalized accounting since 01.01.2003 using the FSZN mobile application.

What information can be obtained in this mobile application?

It is essentially an electronic version of the citizen’s insurance certificate, what people call the green card. It contains the full history of contributions in the personalized accounting system since 1 January 2003. At any time you can check data on periods of employment, accrued payments, and contributions paid into the fund’s budget, as well as find out the total duration of your insurance service period.

The one that is needed for calculating the pension?

Insurance service period is the period when employers paid contributions on your behalf, or you paid them yourself (for example, as an individual entrepreneur). In the application it is calculated starting from 1 January 2003.

And can you see in the application the coefficient that determines the pension amount?

– Yes, in the “Insurance Tenure” section of the mobile app you can see the credit coefficient. If in any month the indicator was below one, it means that the earned salary was below the minimum that was in force in the republic that month. This can lead to a reduction in the insurance tenure required to determine the right to a labor pension. The point is that one month of insurance tenure is counted only if contributions from the salary were accrued and paid in that month in an amount not less than the state‑set minimum.

As you can see, the app allows citizens to independently monitor the information that the employer has provided to the SSZ. Primarily, this is information about the accrued and paid mandatory insurance contributions for pension and social insurance. If it turns out that contributions were not paid during a certain period, you will need to contact the employer and demand that they be paid.

• What else is interesting about the mobile app?

– In the “Benefits” section you can get reference information about the allocation of benefits for temporary incapacity, pregnancy and childbirth. Through the mobile app you can book a personal appointment with the Fund’s authorities, obtain a statement from your individual account, which will be sent to the email address specified by the applicant.

Insured persons who have worked since January 1, 2009, or continue to work under special conditions, or are employed in certain types of activities (for example, teachers or medical workers), will be able to check data about their professional pension insurance. And citizens participating in voluntary pension accumulation with state co‑financing can track how much money has been accumulated in their personal accounts at the state enterprise “Stravita”.

The “SSZ” app is available for download on Google Play, App Store, and AppGallery. It is simple and convenient to use. Information about the Fund’s mobile app is posted on the official SSZ website at https://www.ssf.gov.by/ru/mobilnoe-prilozhenie-ru.

The article was prepared by Anna Shmigirova.

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