Last year, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) announced that funded students would no longer be receiving their monthly student allowances via third parties, as the scheme has set up a new bank account system.
The bursary scheme revealed:
As part of the digital transformation at NSFAS, all NSFAS beneficiaries at universities and TVET colleges will start receiving their allowances and transacting through the NSFAS bank card as of the 2023 academic year.
The financial aid scheme partnered with four banking service providers to bring the new payment solution to students including Coinvest Africa. This is often referred to as a Nsfas bank account and allows mobile money transactions to happen.
NSFAS Allowances Direct Payment
This new payment solution was first piloted and implemented for allowance payments to students attending TVET colleges. However, as of June 2023, NSFAS began rolling out the new payment system for university students as well and they were also encouraged to sign up for their Coinvest Nsfas account. The sign up process is simple.
NSFAS warned that these university students will not be able to access their NSFAS student allowances in July 2023 if they do not register with Coinvest for their NSFAS bank account. The Coinvest money card will be issued to the student with the NSFAS funds reflecting on it. It is referred to a s digital bank account even though Coinvest isn't a bank - it is a fintech provider but the monthly allowances are still available to students via the Coinvest money card.
Who should onboard with Coinvest for NSFAS?
Students at these Universities should register:
- Rhodes University
- Sefako Makgatho Health Science University
- Sol Plaatjie University
- Stellenbosch University
- University of Mpumalanga
- University of South Africa
How To Register With Coinvest
- Visit the official Coinvest Website to contact Coinvest
- Register an account
- Enter your ID number
- Complete your personal information
- Upload your Valid Personal Identification Document
- Prepare to take a selfie with a thumbs up close to your face in front of a light-coloured wall. Give a thumbs up and check that your face and thumb are in focus.
- Your account is now ready to be used.
Once students have successfully onboarded, they will receive a NSFAS Mastercard which will allow them to make money withdrawals from ATMs, selected retail stores and will also be able to make electronic transfers as with normal bank accounts. If you don't receive the physical card you can contact Coinvest, Their contact details on on their website.
How Do You Withdraw Your Funds From Coinvest
There are a number of ways to withdraw funds from your Coinvest NSFAS bank account:
- First you can withdraw at an ATM: You can withdraw cash at any ATM that displays the Mastercard logo.
- The second way is at a retailer that has a credit terminal: You can use your Coinvest money card to make purchases at any terminal that accepts Mastercard payments.
- The third way is through the Coinvest app.
Here are some additional tips to remember when you are withdrawing money from your Coinvest NSFAS account:
- Make sure you have enough funds in your account to cover the cost of the withdrawal fee.
- The minimum withdrawal fee is R10.
- The maximum you can withdraw each day is R5,000.
- You can only withdraw funds from ATMs that are in South Africa.
Other Transactions With Your NSFAS Card
In addition, they will be able to make online transactions and purchases from online stores and enjoy tap-to-pay functionality.
Beneficiaries can access mobile banking services, which enable them to check their balances, make payments, and transfer funds.
They will also have complete visibility of all transactions and balances via different approved platforms namely online, mobile application and USSD. An SMS will be sent to them each time a transaction is performed.
For more information on the new NSFAS bank account system students can visit the NSFAS website at www.nsfas.org.za.
