Postbank has suspended grant payments via ATM for SASSA gold card holders for the month of December 2022, citing “ATM card fraud-related crimes.”
In a statement on Tuesday (6 December), Postbank advised SASSA gold card holders to instead withdraw their grants from retail stores that have the cashback functionality.
SASSA grant payments via ATM suspended
“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. SASSA grants beneficiaries using the Postbank-issued gold cards are requested to withdraw their benefits from retail merchants,” the state-owned company said.
“In the recent months, Postbank has been experiencing a number of technical glitches that disrupted the smooth withdrawal of social assistance benefits.
“Following extensive investigations, we have now uncovered a series of network attacks by criminal elements determined to commit systematic ATM card fraud-related crimes on Postbank payments using sophisticated modus operandi which require further investigation.
“As a mitigating exercise, and in consultation with our partners following the resurgence of these criminal activities at the inception of the December payments, it has become necessary that Postbank suspends SASSA grants withdrawal at ATM for those clients using the Postbank-issued SASSA gold cards.”
Stores that offer cashback for SASSA grants
Retail stores that provide for the cashback functionality across South Africa include Shoprite, Checkers, Usave, Pick n Pay and Boxer.
Alternatively, SASSA gold card holders can simply use their cards to make payments at any business establishment that accepts bank card transactions.
Postbank apologised to social grant beneficiaries for the inconvenience, adding, “We assure our customers that a dedicated team of professionals, assisted by experienced external experts as well as law enforcement agencies have been assigned to deal with this challenge and great progress has been made to close down all avenues used by these criminals.
“Social grants beneficiaries are also assured that the Postbank-issued SASSA gold cards are still valid and have not expired. Therefore, beneficiaries should not be misled into changing the cards unless if they wish to do so on their own accord.”
Postbank concluded that it would notify grant beneficiaries when ATM transactions for the SASSA gold cards would be available again.
The suspension follows a system glitch in November that disrupted grant payments at Post Office branches countrywide. Postbank resolved the glitch within a few days.