South African banking group Standard bank (SBK) has entered into a working relationship with the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development in order to ensure safer and more convenient social grant payouts in the province.
Recipients are to get free and immediate access to their grant monies through the bank’s popular E Plan account, Standard Bank said in a statement on Tuesday.
“We are delighted that this facility can immediately be made available to some 37n000 existing Standard Bank customers who currently receive grants,” says Mpumzi Pupuma, Standard Bank Retail Banking Director in the Eastern Cape.
“We foresee that many thousands more grant recipients will take advantage of the security and flexibility our banking account offers.”
He said grant recipients who open an E Plan account would no longer need to queue on specific days for cash payouts and instead could access their money at any ATM countrywide.
Eastern Cape Social Development MEC Neo Moerane said Standard Bank had responded to a national call for a transformation of their services “in favour of the poor and vulnerable sectors of our society.”
“Major blockages to our poor people accessing banking services have been eliminated,” said Moerane.
Grant payments made through a bank account are cheaper and more efficient for the province than current methods of disbursement.
According to the Intergovernmental Fiscal Review, it presently costs between R16,73 and R31,50 to administer each social grant. The Eastern Cape currently spends R31,50 on each grant.
For each E Plan account opened under the Department of Social Development Eastern Cape scheme, the department will pay the bank R13,50 a month, which covers account maintenance and two free recipient withdrawals a month.
Of the 13.50 rand, 50 cents will be paid into a fund managed jointly by the department and the bank for the improvement of community facilities.
E Plan is specifically intended for customers who have no need for a chequebook. Instead, the account is operated through automatic teller machines (ATMs) and telephone banking. – I-Net Bridge