Over 900k Postbank cards issued to SASSA beneficiaries

"I can tell you today we are sitting with over 900,000 cards that we’ve issued to date as of Monday. So we’re very close to a million cards, which we are quite confident that by the end of this week or next week, we should be hitting that million,” said Postbank CEO Nikki Mbengashe.

Mbengashe briefed Parliament’s social development committee amid concerns over the slow pace of replacing the South African Social Security Agency Gold Card with Postbank’s Black Card.  

The deadline for the process has been extended to 20 March. 

Mbengashe told the committee that over 20,000 cards are being issued daily.

"We are issuing now 26,000 cards daily on average across the country, which is a great jump of an improvement of 61%,” she said, adding that plans are in place to ensure that all Postbank Black Cards are issued to SASSA grant beneficiaries by the end of June.

The Gold Cards are being phased out to introduce biometric authentication and enhanced encryption for improved security and faster access to grant payments.

In the last 12 days, the bank has issued over 334,000 cards.

"We are working around the clock to ensure that even in April if you don't have your Black Card by then, we will ensure that you still have access to your funds, whether you have a yellow or black card, your money will go into your bank, no one can interfere with that,” said Mbengashe.

The CEO added that beneficiaries have been given an opportunity to register for cardless cash withdrawals.

This is part of the queue management intervention to ensure that all beneficiaries receive their money on time.

"Cardless cash withdrawals are a temporary measure until all beneficiaries have received their Black Cards. The cardless solution is an addition to ensure that people don't go home empty-handed. We give them an opportunity to register for a cardless solution, but we use it as and when we need it, but it is not something that we take as a first prize."

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