The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is a government bursary which provides students with allowances for expenses such as learning materials, transport and other living expenses.
The bursary scheme has experienced many issues related to the payment of these allowances such as illegal access, possible payment to ghost beneficiaries, incorrect and duplicate payments.
To fix this, NSFAS has been developing an alternative and secure payment solution which will see students receiving their monthly allowances through a bank card called the NSFAS Mastercard.
This payment solution will make the payment of allowances smoother and prevent delays which students have been experiencing with the current payment method.
NSFAS has started the process of onboarding students onto the new system, with the help of its four partners:
- eZaga
- Tenetech
- Norraco
- Coinvest
The partners have also been visiting different university campuses to provide students with more information about the new system.
At the beginning of the roll-out period, students will be able to use the NSFAS Mastercard for any transactions a standard card can be used for. Information will then be gathered from these transactions to maximise the deals NSFAS can negotiate for its students.
Further information will also be collected about the purchases students make, in order to determine which restrictions should be put in place to stop students from purposefully abusing the card.
The NSFAS Mastercard will be activated for as long as a student is still funded by NSFAS.
Students can keep updated with the roll out process by visiting the NSFAS social media pages.
