The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is a government bursary which provides financial aid to disadvantaged students to further their studies. NSFAS funds students who are pursuing their studies at public universities and TVET colleges.
Students receive monthly allowances from NSFAS which covers various living expenses. These expenses include transport costs, study materials, food and accommodation.
In order to make the payment of allowances easier and prevent payment delays, NSFAS introduced a new direct payment solution through the NSFAS MasterCard. NSFAS-funded students will receive a MasterCard and bank account in which they will receive their monthly allowances.
This new payment solution is in line with NSFAS' Student-Centered funding approach.
The bursary scheme has stated that students will be charged R12 every month. Students will not incur bank charges when they use the bank card for cash withdrawals or making purchases.
NSFAS has encouraged students to complete the NSFAS direct payment onboarding process to receive allowances.
The bursary scheme has called on funded TVET college and university students to register for the NSFAS Bank account through each of its distributing partners, namely, Coinvest, eZaga, Morocco and Tenet Technology.
Beneficiaries will be able to use their Bank account to access mobile banking services, which enables them to check their balances, make payments and transfer funds.
The NSFAS Mastercard will be activated for as long as a student is still funded by NSFAS.
Students can keep updated with the roll out process by visiting the NSFAS social media pages.
