SASSA to phase-out cash payments points

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The SA Social Security Agency(SASSA) and Postbank have announced the phasing-out of cash payments points(CPP) and cash withdrawal of social grants inside Post Offices.

According to these state-owned entities(SOE), the phasing out process will be implemented in a staggered way starting in January 2024.

They also revealed that they planned that by March 31, 2024, all CPPs and Post Office branch grants payment would have stopped.

In a joint statement issued, the SOE’s said SASSA Gold Card social recipients using CPP’s and Post Office branches must now use those cards at any place that accepts a bank card.

“This includes making purchases in any retailer that provides a cash back functionality, counting using the existing Postbank cash withdrawals channels in the form of any bank ATM, or any of the five partner retailers.

The decision to transition away from cash distribution at CPPs was announced in 2018 and it is grounded in a commitment to improve overall customer experience.

Factors such as escalating cash-in-transit heists, unfavourable conditions at many Post Offices drove this strategic move.

By migrating beneficiaries to other National Payments System(NPS) access channel, we are solving for these challenges proactively.

As of December 2023, approximately ninety eight percent of SASSA beneficiaries already use various NPS channels to withdraw their grants. Most SASSA beneficiaries will therefore not be affected by this change.

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The transition will be implemented sensibly to ensure that no one is left out. The aim is to ensure continuity in the payments for everyone, and that every person is paid their grant in the most efficient, safe, secure, reliable and convenient manner.

The entities emphasised that SASSA Gold Cards will not expire and remain fully valid and operational beyond this month.

This is contrary to rumours that may cause many beneficiaries to make choices that are only driven by their intolerance of anxiety and not facts.