As informed by SASSA along with Postbank, all social grant beneficiaries need to replace their SASSA gold cards to the new Postbank black cards before the deadline of 28 February 2025. People are advised to replace the cards before the deadline to avoid issues with accessing funds from their SASSA accounts. After this period, Gold Cards will be rendered defunct for cash withdrawals from all ATMs and retail outlets. Likewise, gold cards will no longer be usable for a range of services, including balance checks, statement prints, or retail purchases as they will be frozen. Since September 2024 PostBank has been refitting SASSA Gold Cards with the new PostBank Black Cards, and to this date, 100s of beneficiaries have swapped their cards to gain access to their funds through the new PostBank Black Card. Other beneficiaries are encouraged to collect their new PostBank Black Cards, as after this deadline, the SASSA Gold Cards will no longer be valid for any transactions. For the last installment of funds, SASSA has confirmed that SASSA gold cards will be accepted up to the week commencing on the 4 to 6 February 2025.
“In 2025 February 28, access to your SASSA grant payments will be blocked due to lack of an up-to-date device for your funds.” Said Nikki Mbengashe, the Postbank CEO. “Irrespective of the expiration date on the card, all existing SASSA Gold cards will become inactive after February 28, 2025.” she continued.
“We aim to assist beneficiaries who have not migrated to Postbank Black Cards yet, to ensure that they can receive payments without any problems in the future.”
Prospective beneficiaries of the new Postbank Black Cards are required to possess a verified South African ID or temporary ID for application. It is important to note that the cards will not be issued without these documents. The reduction of documentation for application of the new Postbank Black Cards also meets SASSA and Postbank’s ongoing aim at enhancing the customer service experience for all beneficiaries of social grants.
All beneficiaries can apply for the new Postbank Black Card at no additional costs. This is in line with Postbank’s financial inclusion strategy and SASSA’s social welfare essential services obligations.
Like the previous cards, the new Postbank Black Cards are functional on all channels of the National Payment System from ATMs to retailers’ point of sale. Once issued to the beneficiary there is no restriction on the new cards being used for transactions. There are also enhanced security and other card features on the new cards.
The beneficiaries of social grants will be pleased to note that they can switch the Gold Cards to Postbank Black Cards without losing out on any benefits. These include the following:
• One free card replacement annually
• Three monthly in store cash withdrawals free of charge.
• One free over the counter statement per month
Ensuring that noone is left out in replacing the cards, SASSA and Postbank partnered so that all grant beneficiaries can easily replace their cards. To facilitate this, Postbank has ensured that it selects the card replacement sites in line with the withdrawal preference patterns of the beneficiaries. Beneficiaries can easily switch their SASSA Gold Cards at their payment points (retailers) such as Shoprite, Checkers, Usave, Boxer throughout the country, and Pick n Pay branches in Gauteng.
“Our strategy for where we chose to issue our cards is based on where customers already get their grants now. We collaborated with these retailers because they are well known to our clients, nd we tried to get as close as possible to where the majority of beneficiaries are in each province”, says Ms. Mbengashe.
Postbank also facilitated the process for beneficiaries looking to collect their Postbank Black Cards. From any province, beneficiaries can collect their cards from the Postbank branches. From the comfort of their homes, they only have to use their phone to:
- Dial: 120218*3#
- Reply by pressing number: 1; and
- Reply with the number representing the province they live in.
Both SASSA and Postbank guarantee that there will be no interruptions to the payment of social grants to beneficiaries and the general public.
“For our beneficiaries, we would like to request that they do not procrastinate or wait until cards stop working. They must go to the nearest card replacement site to collect their Postbank Black Cards now so that means they will be able to sustain their payments, states Themba Matlou, SASSA Acting CEO.
Beneficiaries need to understand that there are criminal elements that may exploit periods of high economic activity for scamming people. We therefore urge them to handle their ID’s with care, and while they have to provide the ID to someone, it must be an authorized person. It is also important to ensure that cards are kept safely in purses or wallets when not in use. Beneficiaries also need to be cautious not to accept cards that resemble Postbank Black Cards that may be issued by people or institutions that do not intend to honor them.
For any further questions or clarifications, beneficiaries may wish to reach the Postbank or SASSA Customer Care Centers at the following numbers: Postbank: 0800 53 54 55 or SASSA: 0800 60 10 11
