The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) wants to ensure all funded students receive their allowances promptly. This saw the introduction of a direct payment solution in 2023.
Students funded by NSFAS receive a learning material allowance, a transportation allowance and an allowance for living expenses. NSFAS now pays these allowances directly to students through their NSFAS MasterCard.
Previously, allowances were paid to the intuitions where the funded students were enrolled or via third-party service providers. The allowance money would then be distributed to students.
NSFAS CEO Andile Nongogo says they decided to pay students directly after several challenges occurred under the previous payment arrangement.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college students were paid directly through a wallet system. However, this system left students prone to being defrauded; this motivated the change to the new payment solution.
They explain that not all institutions paid students on a set date. This subsequently meant that NSFAS then had to deal with issues of students not being paid on time
Nongogo explained that by paying students directly, NSFAS has control over when payments are made to students. They add that it also provides students with certainty that payments will be made.
The NSFAS MasterCard provides students with access to value-added services, the ability to make online purchases, tap-to-pay functionality and a virtual card to pay securely at merchants.
Nongogo says the new payment solution allows students to transact using the banking system and provides them with increased security.
The main aim of the new payment solution is to move towards certainty that students will get paid on time, minimise fraudulent activity and give students the freedom to transact themselves.
