The Payment Association of South Africa (PASA) has extended the validity of expired SASSA/Postbank Gold Cards until 31 December 2023.
This means that social grants recipients can continue using their expired cards for social grants payments transactions at ATMs and merchant Point of Sale (POS) withdrawals, and purchases without the need to collect new cards or switch to other banks.
According to Postbank spokesperson, Dr. Bongani Diako, PASA has sent correspondence to all acquiring banks to ensure they are ready to accept expired SASSA/Postbank Gold Cards, and Postbank has concluded its own preparations. “From the end of April, social grants recipients can collect their grants payments at their usual collection points using their expired SASSA/Postbank Gold Cards, regardless of the expiry date,” said Diako.
The SASSA/Postbank Gold Cards are a tailored product designed to protect social grants recipients from past financial abuse, and those using these cards will continue to receive three free purchases transactions per month.
Post Office branches will continue to provide re-issues of lost and stolen cards and facilitate payments for grants recipients who prefer using biometric verification.
“So if you have an expired SASSA/Postbank Gold Card, you can rest assured that you will still receive your grants money without any disruption until the end of 2023. This is great news for social grant recipients and we hope this extension brings much-needed relief to those who rely on these grants,” said Dr Diako.
Postbank is still going to replace the SASSA/Postbank Gold Cards before the end of December 2023 in line with the directive of the South African Reserve Bank. A new Postbank social grants payments card will be launched in line with the card replacement program.
Social grants recipients using the SASSA/Postbank Gold Card will be notified as to when to come forward to collect new cards in line with the card replacement program in the next few weeks. In the meantime, social grants recipients using the expired SASSA/Postbank Gold Cards can enjoy using these cards within all the National payments System points that include ATM’s, POS purchases as well as Post Office branches and SASSA physical cash payment points.
Social grants recipients that prefer to use the recently introduced Postbank cardless method of accessing social grants via the participating retailers that include Shoprite, Boxer, Pick n Pay, Usave, Checkers and OK are encouraged to do so as that alternative option is still available starting from 4 May 2023 when SASSA grants payments commence.