• NSFAS has already run into an issue ahead of the beginning of its latest payment method attempt in June.
• From next month, TVET college students will be paid their allowances directly to their personal bank accounts.
• Around 7 000 students are yet to verify their bank accounts with four days left until payments begin.

Administrator Freeman Nomvalo, appointed by the Department of Higher Education to essentially fix NSFAS by the middle of 2025, has said today that the new payment disbursal method for beneficiaries at TVET colleges across South Africa is in effect.

This means that NSFAS will disburse the monthly allowances of students directly into their personal bank accounts. This only applies to TVET students for now, as university students are ostensibly being paid directly by universities, while the status of the four payment partners is in the air – but the last we heard is that they are also distributing funds.

Now NSFAS is urgently calling for TVET beneficiaries to verify their bank accounts ahead of the end of May payment run. June will be the first month that beneficiaries will be paid directly to their accounts.

In a statement, NSFAS says that there is still a significant number of students who are yet to have their accounts verified.

“In terms of data checks received thus far, a total of 211 591 have been verified and a total of 7 160 failed the verification checks, due to updated bank accounts that don’t belong to students,” the statement reads.

“All students whose bank accounts were successfully verified will henceforth receive their allowances directly via their bank accounts.”

The scheme is sending notifications to warn students who have uploaded incorrect banking details to reupload their details for verification via the myNSFAS online portal. It reiterates that the bank details must belong to the student that is uploading and you cannot use, for example, a bank account in the name of a parent, guardian or friend.

It adds that the verification process may take time depending on specific banking institutions, however with four days left before NSFAS begins distributing payments, it is likely that there will still be some students who are unable to receive their allowances for June.

According to Nomvalo, NSFAS has started work on a similar solution for university students, likely one that sees direct payments to their bank accounts, cutting out the university middle-man and direct payment partners altogether.

“We also understand the challenges faced by University students regarding allowances,” he told the media.

On the topic of student accommodation, NSFAS says that it will hold a workshop with private student accommodation associations across South Africa to “hear first-hand the challenges experienced by their members” during the NSFAS student accommodation pilot project started last year.

This workshop will likely happen in September, ahead of the full rollout of the project in 2025.

[Image – @myNSFAS on X]