Pay PAG-IBIG Housing Loan Via Metrobankdirect

A few days back, I went to PAG-IBIG Ayala Cebu Branch to submit the receipt of my realty tax payment for the years 2017 and 2018. While one can actually send the scanned receipt online, I opted to submit mine in person. Good thing I did so because then I learned about the following announcement:

Apparently, effective July 2018, all housing loan borrowers are advised to pay their housing loans through different payment channels (as indicated in the announcement). Rather than wait for the July 1 start date, I thought I'd give paying via Metrobankdirect--Metrobank's online channel--a try. Actually, the reason I opened a Metrobank account was primarily for this purpose. However, I didn't use the account as I initially intended because paying over the counter gives my mother a chance to drop by Ayala Center. She normally does not go to the mall, but paying my HDMF housing loan gives her a reason to do so. But with this new policy, I guess I have no other choice but to comply and pay through the fund's payment-collecting partners. So yeah, for my February 2018 due, I'm going to pay through Metrobankdirect. Luckily, my employer's payroll account is also with Metrobank. Thus, it would definitely be hassle-free for me.
Without further ado, below are the steps on how to pay your housing loan through Metrobankdirect online.
First, before logging in to your Metrobank account, you need to prepare your 20-digit payment reference number. You will be needing this number when you make the payment. You can find the payment reference number printed on the monthly statement that PAG-IBIG sends you via traditional mail or through the electronic statement sent to you via email. The encircled numbers on the image below is your payment reference number:

1. Log in to your Metrobankdirect account.

2. Click on PAY BILLS under Deposit Accounts tab.

3. Select Special Biller. Under Category, choose Government from the pop-up menu.

Note that PAG-IBIG will generate a different payment reference number each month. Thus, you have to select Special Biller each time you make a payment.

4. After selecting Government, choose PAG-IBIG Fund (Individual) as Biller.
   Input the 20-digit payment reference number found in your bill under the Subscriber/Account No. field.
   Leave the next two fields (Reference No. and Phone No.) blank.
   Lastly, enter your monthly amortization (or any amount).
   Select the Payment Type.
   Under Remark, you can add a note or opt to leave it blank.

Once done, you will be directed to the Transaction Confirmation page.
Please disregard the erroneous label on the image (10-digit). Label should have read 20, not 10, as it's derived from the payment reference no. found in your bill.

5. Check the details you have inputted, and if everything is correct, click Confirm. Click Back if you need to make corrections on your entry.

6. Upon hitting Confirm, you will be directed to the Transaction Acknowledgment page.

This confirms your bill payment transaction. After this, you will then receive an email notification sent to your registered email to acknowledge officially your payment transaction.

7. Check your registered email for confirmation of your bill payment transaction.

And you're done. If you have an existing Metrobank account, but has not registered the account online yet, check out this post on 5 Steps to Enroll Your Metrobank Account Online. You can use your Metrobankdirect account to pay your MBT credit card bills, fund your COL stock account, FAMI mutual funds, among other things. Note: Made corrections on item 4, which caused a bit of confusion as mentioned in the comments. Anyhoo, clarified the wrongfully labeled image used in item 4 (not the image itself, but the texts that came with the image). [modified May 29, 2020]