The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is a government bursary provided to disadvantaged students who are pursuing their studies at public universities and TVET colleges.
NSFAS provides students with allowances each month for living expenses such as transport, accommodation, meals and personal care.
In 2022, the NSFAS bank account was introduced for students in TVET colleges and now the bank accounts will be used by university students in order to receive their allowances.
From June 2023, university students who are funded by NSFAS will receive their allowances through the NSFAS bank account which will allow them to receive their monies directly from the bursary scheme.
NSFAS partnered with Coinvest, Tenet Technology, eZaga and Norraca to distribute student allowances via the NSFAS mastercard.
Universities will be onboarded by the different financial institutions as follows:
- Coinvest:
- Rhodes University
- Sefako Makgatho Health Science University
- Stellenbosch University
- University of Cape Town
- University of Mpumalanga
- eZaga:
- Durban University of Technology
- Tshwane University of Technology
- University of Free State
- University of Limpopo
- Vaal University of Technology
- Norraco:
- Central University of Technology
- Mangosuthu University Of Technology
- Nelson Mandela University
- North West University
- University Of Fort Hare
- University Of Johannesburg
- University Of Western Cape
- TeneTech Technologies:
- Cape Peninsula University Of Technology
- University Of KwaZulu Natal
- University of Venda
- University of Pretoria
- University Of Fort Hare
- University of Witwatersrand
- Walter Sisulu University
In order to register a NSFAS bank account students must visit the NSFAS website and register for the financial institution specific to their university.
NSFAS has sent funded students SMSes and emails requesting them to register for their NSFAS bank accounts and the bursary scheme has urged students to register as soon as possible to avoid delays with receiving their allowance.
Once students have been onboarded onto the new system, they will receive a NSFAS bank card (virtual or physical) which they can use to perform transactions that they would with mainstream bank accounts.
NSFAS introduced this payment method to give students certainty that they will be paid and give them control over when payments are made.
A benefit of using this payment method is that students have the freedom to transact using a banking system that is more secure and assists students in saving their money through discounts.
