During its official opening of student funding applications the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) unveiled its Mastercard through which funded students would receive their allowances.
The card was introduced in partnership between Tenet Technology, with the intention of enabling tertiary students to receive their monthly allowance using the NSFAS Mastercard.
The anticipated 900,000 Nsfas-funded students will not all be switched over to the new payment system at once; instead, NSFAS will pilot this method with a certain number of students first, and then the whole roll-out will take place in a phased-in approach.
For those that will form part of the Nsfas payment system, the bursary scheme has also provided guidelines on how switching to the NSFAS Mastercard will work for students.
- Students will be issued a physical and a virtual card.
- The new system will be able to restrict transactions to allowable commodities.
- Students will receive third-party customer rewards as part of the value-added.
- The use of student data will be in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
- There will be a call Centre facility and several query resolution mechanisms to support students nationally, anywhere in the country.
- The solution will allow students to capture, validate and update their personal details through a secure validation mechanism.
- The solution meets all financial sector regulatory standards and can stop payments, and block/unblock and flag accounts in cases of fraud, death, etc.
- Students will receive essential messages via SMS, email or other platforms at different points of their transacting journeys.
- Students will have complete visibility of all transactions and balances.
In addition to this, here is how students can sign up for the newly introduced bank card upon receiving it.
How to activate NSFAS Mastercard:
- The SMS will contain an SMS with a link to download the Smartphone App.
- Download the Tenetech Student App.
- Register your student number.
- Fill out and complete your details.
- Upload a photo of your SA ID to securely verify that it is you.
- Upload a selfie while holding your SA ID to further verify yourself.
- A bank account number will be assigned to your student number.
- A bank card will be delivered to you at your college or university
- The card’s PIN should always be kept private, therefore are urged to use the card without disclosing any personal information.
Additionally, it has been advised that after completing purchases, students double-check their receipts to be sure they are accurate.
Students are advised to check their bank statements each month to ensure that the charges on their accounts are accurate.
