• Even if a SASSA Gold card is expired it will continue to function throughout 2024 according to Postbank.
• Postbank urges beneficiaries to report incidents where a person tries to convince them to switch to a different bank.
• Beneficiaries should exercise caution given the phasing out of cash withdrawls at Post Office branches between now and March.

South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) grant beneficiaries can continue using expired SASSA Gold cards throughout 2024.

This is the word from Postbank, hoping it will prevent beneficiaries from being taken advantage of by criminals and scammers.

“Never listen to anyone telling you to change to another bank claiming that your grant won’t be paid because your SASSA Gold Card won’t work. This is incorrect, SASSA Gold Card continues to work in 2024 and Postbank assures you that your grant will be paid on time via your existing SASSA Gold Card. No one has the right to tell you who to bank with, even if it’s a SASSA official,” Postbank wrote in a media statement this week.

This is of particular importance given the forthcoming changes to how beneficiaries access their grant. Starting this month, cash services at Post Office branches are being phased out and won’t be accessible by March of this year. While Post Offices can be visited to replace a card or to solve problems with a card, cash withdrawals won’t be available.

Instead, beneficiaries must visit any bank’s ATM or access their grant at Boxer, Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Usave, Checkers, and Spar stores.

Postbank highlighted that SASSA Gold cardholders have access to benefits such as three free withdrawals or purchases at the stores mentioned above and access to three months of statements. Gold cardholders also receive one free balance inquiry inside a branch.

Should cardholders encounter anybody who tries to convince them that their SASSA Gold card won’t work, they should report the incident by calling 0800 53 54 55.

With the change to how beneficiaries access their grant, there is potential for these folks to be taken advantage of and it seems logical that an expired card won’t work, making it that much easier to scam a person.

It also doesn’t help that many beneficiaries said in September that they hadn’t received their grants. This was despite Postbank saying it had indeed disbursed funds. The dispute arose after a technical glitch prevented grants from being accessed. Postbank said the issue had been addressed but beneficiaries complained that their accounts were still empty long after the issue had supposedly been resolved.

Here’s hoping the systems remain functional as the Post Office phases out cash withdrawals giving ne’er-do-wells less opportunity to take advantage of folks just trying to access their social grant.