The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) distributes more than 18 million grants to vulnerable people every month. These grant beneficiaries use Sassa Gold Cards as a way to access their money when it is paid by the social security agency.
Millions of social grant beneficiaries faced uncertainty over the last months as their Sassa Gold Cards expired. This meant that many grant beneficiaries would be unable to withdraw their grant money, leaving them with no money.
While the grant payment agency encouraged beneficiaries to visit their nearest Post Office to collect a new card, the demand for people getting new cards was too great.
In an effort to mitigate the challenges that expired Gold Cards would create, Sassa announced that the validity of all gold cards would be extended until 31 December 2023. This announcement, made in May 2023 meant that grant beneficiaries can use their expired Sassa Gold Cards until the end of the year.
The Department of Social Development (DSD) has revealed that millions of Sassa grant beneficiaries would have been impacted if the validity of Sassa Gold Cards was not extended.
In April 2023, more than 800,000 Sassa Gold Cards reached their expiration date, leaving the beneficiaries in a state of uncertainty. The situation escalated further in May 2023, with more than 2.6 million Gold Cards expiring. A further 1.5 million Sassa gold cards are expiring in June 2023.
A new payment solution was also introduced, which allows grant beneficiaries to collect their grant without a Sassa card.
The Postbank has also introduced a cardless solution to enable clients to access funds in their bank accounts, thus reducing the dependency on a card. This cardless solution is a permanent solution that will enable beneficiaries to access payment at participating retailers.
The Strategy To Replace Expiring Sassa Gold Cards
The DSD says the Postbank will continue with the issuance of new Sassa Gold Cards to beneficiaries. There are also plans in place that will leverage the vast footprint of retail stores to assist in the issuance of new Sassa Gold Cards.
Postbank has also reached an agreement with certain merchants who will assist them with the issuing of cards. More information on this will be communicated by the Postbank in due course.
Grant beneficiaries may also elect to change their grant payment and have their money paid directly into their bank account. Beneficiaries can visit their nearest Sassa office to change their grant payment method.
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