Chart of the week: Postbank loses social grant clients | GroundUp
More than 75% of Postbank’s clients have moved to private banks There has been a sharp drop in Postbank social grant clients since 2020. Payment delays, technical problems, and a chaotic card swap appear to have pushed clients towards private banks. Capitec has become the leader, followed by African Bank. Grindrod, together with its assets and clients, was taken over by African Bank in 2024.The figures cited in the chart do not include SRD Grant beneficiaries. Postbank, once championed as a no-fee banking alternative for social grant recipients, has lost about 75% of its social grant customers in the past five years.After the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) ended its unlawful contract with Cash Paymaster Services for the payment of social grants in 2018, the South African Post Office (SAPO) took over.Postbank, a subsidiary of SAPO, stepped in to administer payments to newly issued SASSA-branded bank cards, which provided social grant beneficiaries with a no-fee alternative to private banks.