Sassa beneficiaries queue outside a Shoprite retail store in Kuilsriver for their montly grant payout. Picture: Henk Kruger/African News Agency (ANA)
If you are a South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) recipient, then pay close attention.
In a statement, Postbank said that it had suspended the use of ATMs for grant payments for the month of December.
“Postbank advises Sassa grants beneficiaries and the general public that withdrawal of funds at ATMs using the Postbank-issued Sassa gold cards have been suspended only for the December 2022 month”, the bank said.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
Postbank said, “Sassa grants beneficiaries using the Postbank issued gold cards are requested to withdraw their benefits from retail merchants”.
THE REASON:
In the last few months, there have been a number of “technical glitches that disrupted the smooth withdrawal of Social Assistance benefits”.
After a number of extensive investigations, Postbank said they had uncovered a series of network attacks by criminal elements determined to commit systematic ATM card fraud-related crimes.
As a result, Postbank has been forced to suspend Sassa grants withdrawal at ATMs for those clients using the PostBank-issued Sassa gold cards.
WHERE CAN YOU GO?
Postbank said that grant recipients can, “Withdraw their social grants monies at any retail outlets nationwide”.
These retail outlets include:
“Grants recipients can also use the Sassa gold cards to make purchases at any place that accepts bank card transactions as the Sassa gold cards functions fully within the national payments system similarly to any other bank card.”
A SYSTEM OF PROBLEMS
Postbank in early November apologised to grant beneficiaries who were unable to receive their social grants on time in November.
It should be noted that Postbank is responsible for handling over 10 million social grants across the country.
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