With an estimated total of over 900 000 funded tertiary students throughout the country, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has had to implement changes to its disbursement model to avoid delays in paying out NSFAS allowances.
The bursary scheme introduced the NSFAS Bank Account to enable direct payment of monthly NSFAS allowances to students. Prior to this, NSFAS allowance payments were made through tertiary institutions which would often result in payment delays because institutions had different disbursement dates.
The decision also forms part of the scheme’s effort to have a more active role and certainty in ensuring that students are paid on time according to its CEO, Andile Nongogo.
The NSFAS Bank Account is a bank account specifically designed for NSFAS beneficiaries. It is a zero-fee account that is offered by eZaga and is available to all NSFAS-funded students using their NSFAS MasterCard.
Related Article: How To Login To MyNsfas Student Portal
To establish this disbursement method NSFAS partnered with third-party digital banking service providers such as Coinvest, eZaga, Norraco, and Tenet Technology. Each of these providers has guidelines on how students can onboard their myNSFAS to their NSFAS MasterCard upon activating it.
How to activate NSFAS Mastercard
- Send an SMS to 31571. Type “Activate” followed by a space then the last four digits of the card.
- Receive your PIN via SMS. Memorise the PIN, then delete the SMS.
- The card will be activated when you receive your first NSFAS bursary payment on the card.
Once the card is activated, students can change their PIN. Students have also been advised to keep their cards safe and not to lend them to anyone.
Nongogo further stated that it is a much more safe and secure way for beneficiaries to receive their allowances as it is protected by security measures such as PIN codes, One Time Pins (OTPs), and biometric authentication, which ensure that only the account holder can access the funds.
