Johannesburg – From Thursday South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) beneficiaries whose gold cards have expired will be able to receive their grants payments through a new cardless payment method launched by the Post Office.
With the new initiative, the beneficiaries won’t have to carry their SASSA/Postbank gold cards when they go to cash their grants at participating retailers like Shoprite, Usave, Boxer, Pick n Pay and OK.
Those who have their cards expired and have not yet collected the new cards, they no longer have to go and collect them, as the service no longer needs the physical card to withdraw the grants.
To cash out the grants, all the beneficiaries need is the ID documents, cellphone and the SASSA/Postbank card PIN.
At the till point of the retailers, they will be asked to validate their identity and enter their cellphone number, and then enter their PIN to receive their payments.
- Bring your cellphone, ID document, SASSA/Postbank Gold Card PIN
- Go to the till-point and provide your ID and cellphone number to verify your identity as a registered grant beneficiary.
- You will receive a confirmation message on your phone (you dont need to have airtime)
- Enter your SASSA/Postbank Gold card PIN (same one used at ATM withdrawals)
- The cashier will give you the requested amount of money.
This new payment method will be available to those who havent yet collected their new cards due to the expiry of their SASSA/Postbank Gold cards, or those that simply want to collect their grants without their cards.
When asked what will happen in a case where a person doesnt have a cellphone, Bongani Diako, Postbank Spokesperson responded that they will still be able to access their social grants using biometric within Post Office branches as well as the physical cash payment points.
The cardless method is an additional alternative method that doesnt necessarily replace the traditional payments methods,” said Diako.
“We are still going to issue all the SASSA beneficiaries with cards, therefore the cardless method in the interim serves to ensure that people with expired cards that are unable to collect new cards are paid.
Diako concluded that the recipients of the Covid R350 grants were the first to use the cardless method of being paid through the retailers.
Meanwhile, the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) released a statement that it has extended the validity of expired SASSA/Postbank Gold Cards until 31 December 2023, which means social grants recipients can still continue using their expired cards.
PASA has sent correspondence to all acquiring banks to ensure they are ready to accept expired SASSA/Postbank Gold Cards.
