<\/p>\n
Postbank will resume the rollout of its black cards from mid-April, continuing efforts to replace the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) gold cards.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the government said approximately 1.5 million social grant beneficiaries had been issued black cards by 31 March 2025.<\/p>\n
The rollout will continue, running from mid-April to July 2026. About 600 000 remaining gold cardholders will be called to swap to Postbank\u2019s black cards in order to continue receiving their social grants.<\/p>\n
Read:<\/p>\n
Postbank jumps through regulatory hoops to land FSP licence
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\nSassa extends Postbank\u2019s contract by three months<\/p>\n
The rollout follows the\u00a0formal licensing of Postbank as a financial services provider by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority.<\/p>\n
This forms part of efforts to build Postbank into a \u201csustainable and well-governed state-owned retail bank\u201d after its separation from the South African Post Office in 2019, the statement said.<\/p>\n
The switch to black cards was\u00a0required after a 2021 cryptographic breach compromised the security key used to issue Sassa gold cards.<\/p>\n
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Postbank was issued notices by the South African Reserve Bank in 2021, 2022 and 2023 to replace all Sassa gold cards with the new black cards, which have improved security features.<\/p>\n
However, a coordinated rollout only began in 2024, when Postbank launched a campaign to swap the cards ahead of a March 2025 deadline.<\/p>\n
In early 2025, Postbank attempted to\u00a0migrate millions\u00a0of beneficiaries, but only\u00a0about half\u00a0had switched by the deadline.<\/p>\n
The rollout was marked by confusion and repeated deadline changes.<\/p>\n
The process was widely criticised for being slow and difficult.<\/p>\n
Beneficiaries were required to switch within a short period, leading to long queues. System failures meant the rollout struggled to keep pace with demand.<\/p>\n
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Read:<\/p>\n
Sassa claims it has fixed most of its audit problems
\nGrant beneficiaries abandon Postbank after years of glitches and card swap failures
\nNew Sassa deadline to phase out gold cards<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a series of events has contributed to a decline in the number of social grant beneficiaries using Postbank, with many turning to private banks. Figures\u00a0show that Postbank\u2019s client base dropped from about 8.2 million in June 2020 to 2 million by June 2025, a 75% drop.<\/p>\n
Since at least 2022, customers have experienced\u00a0periodic\u00a0payment\u00a0delays\u00a0due to cyberattacks and other\u00a0technical issues.<\/p>\n
Postbank, Sassa and other government entities are expected to work together over the coming months to reach the remaining beneficiaries still using the gold card.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 GroundUp. This article was first published here.<\/p>\n
#Postbank #resume #black #card #rollout #April<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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