SASSA R350 Cardless Withdrawal: How to Get Your SRD Grant?
You can collect your SRD grant without a card, and for most people that is the only way it works. The R350 grant, now paid at R370 a month, does not come with a SASSA card. SASSA does not issue cards at all.
Your money either goes into a bank account in your name, or it comes to you as a cash voucher you redeem at a shop till.
If you do not have a bank account, you choose the African Bank Cash Send option on the SRD portal. When SASSA releases your payment, African Bank sends an SMS to your registered phone with a reference number and a PIN. You take that SMS, your South African ID and the same phone to a Shoprite, Checkers, Usave or OK store. The cashier verifies you and pays you in cash at the till.
No card is needed at any point in that process. Here is exactly how to set it up, collect it, and fix it when it fails.
Why there is no SASSA card for the SRD grant
This trips up a lot of people, so it is worth being clear.
The gold card you have seen, and the new black card replacing it, are Postbank cards. They belong to people receiving permanent grants like the Older Persons Grant, the Disability Grant or the Child Support Grant. Those grants are paid into a Postbank account, and Postbank issues the card that opens that account.
The SRD grant works differently. It has never had a card attached to it. When you applied on srd.sassa.gov.za, you were asked how you wanted to be paid, not which card you wanted.
So if you are searching for how to withdraw your R350 without a card, you are not looking for a workaround. You are looking for the normal payment method that SASSA already offers you.
The two ways SASSA pays the SRD grant
There are only two. Anything else you read online is either out of date or made up.
Bank deposit. SASSA pays the money by EFT into a South African bank account. The account must be in your own name. SASSA cannot pay your grant into anyone else’s account, including a parent’s, a partner’s or a friend’s.
Cash Send voucher. If you do not have a bank account, SASSA pays you through African Bank, which generates a voucher you redeem for cash at a participating store. This is the cardless route.
You pick one or the other. You cannot run both at the same time.
How to set up cardless collection
You do this on the official SASSA portal. It is free, and it takes a few minutes.
- Go to srd.sassa.gov.za and scroll to the section headed “How do I change my banking details”.
- Enter your 13-digit South African ID number and submit.
- SASSA sends an SMS containing a secure link, unique to you, to the mobile number you registered with when you applied. It does not go to any other number.
- Open the link in the SMS and follow the instructions carefully.
- Choose the African Bank Cash Send option, listed as “collect at Shoprite”.
- Submit once and leave it alone.
Two things you need to get right or this will not work.
Your phone number must be RICA registered in your own name. SASSA will not pay a grant to a phone number registered to somebody else. If the SIM is in a family member’s name, sort that out first.
And your new payment method only applies to future payments, after verification. It does not reach back and release money you were already waiting for. Verification can take up to 30 days, so if you change your method mid-month, expect the next cycle to be the one that lands.
How to collect your cash at the shop
Wait for the SMS. This is the part people skip and then queue for nothing.
Do not go to the store before African Bank has sent you the voucher notification. If the voucher has not been created, there is no money for the cashier to release, no matter what your status page says.
When the SMS arrives, bring three things:
- Your South African ID document or smart ID card
- The cellphone with the number you registered with SASSA
- The SMS itself, containing the reference number and PIN
Go to any Shoprite, Checkers, Usave or selected OK store. Go to the till and tell the cashier you are collecting a SASSA SRD payment. Give them the reference number and PIN, and hand over your ID.
Once they verify you, they pay you the cash. Count it before you walk away.
You cannot send someone else to collect for you. The ID check and the registered phone number are there specifically to stop that, and they will stop it.
What it costs
Your grant collection is not free anymore. Under the current arrangement, you are responsible for a service fee when you collect your cash, and African Bank says the fee is disclosed to you up front.
That is worth knowing before you decide. If you have any realistic route to opening a bank account in your own name, a bank deposit is usually the cheaper and less stressful option, because the money simply arrives and you are not making a trip and paying a collection fee every month.
TymeBank, Capitec and the Shoprite Money Market Account are all popular with grant recipients for low fees. Whichever you use, the account has to be in your own name.
If your voucher does not work
This is the most useful number on this page, and almost nobody publishes it.
Dial *120*225# and select SASSA.
That code is African Bank’s SASSA line. Use it when:
- You never received the voucher SMS
- The PIN or voucher is rejected at the till
- You get an error trying to withdraw
The code lets you generate a new voucher, or reset an existing one, as long as it has not already expired.
Your voucher is valid for one month. If you leave it and the month rolls over, it lapses. Collect it while it is live.
If the USSD code does not sort you out, call African Bank on 086 025 577.
For anything about your application itself, your status, or your approval, that is SASSA, not the bank. Call SASSA on 0800 60 10 11, WhatsApp 082 046 8553, or email grantenquiries@sassa.gov.za.
If you have a gold card, this part is for you
If you landed here because you receive an Older Persons, Disability or Child Support Grant and your card is lost, expired or not working, your situation is different.
You need the Postbank Black Card, and there is a hard deadline.
Gold cards stop working after 31 August 2026. Postbank has said the deadline will not be extended. If you do not switch, you will not be able to access your grant payments, although the money itself stays safe in your account.
The swap is free and quick:
- Take a valid South African ID or temporary ID
- Go to a Postbank point inside a Shoprite, Checkers, Usave, Pick n Pay, Boxer or Spar
- You do not need to fill in any forms
- You do not need to visit a SASSA office
- Any balance on your gold card transfers automatically
- You can collect in any province, regardless of where your grant was approved
Dial *120*355# to find your nearest replacement site, or call Postbank on 0800 53 54 55.
One warning worth repeating. If the card does not say Postbank on the front, or somebody asks you to sign forms to make it work, it is not a Postbank black card. Walk away.
Things that do not work, no matter what you read online
The search results for this topic are full of confident nonsense. Here is what to ignore.
There is no SASSA login with an email address and password. You will see articles telling you to sign into a SASSA account, click “Begin Withdrawal” or “Initiate Withdrawal”, and choose how much you want to take out. None of that exists. SASSA has no withdrawal portal, and you cannot select an amount. You are paid the full approved amount for the month, and that is it.
The Post Office no longer pays out cash. Physical cash pay points at Post Office branches were phased out. You cannot walk in, give an ID number and an amount, and receive a voucher. Post Office branches only handle non-cash services now.
ABSA CashSend and FNB eWallet are not SASSA payment methods. Those are ordinary banking products for sending your own money to somebody’s phone. You cannot use them to pull a grant out of SASSA, and if you have no bank account you cannot use them at all.
Ignore invented USSD codes. Several sites list codes for “cash withdrawals” that go nowhere. The only codes that matter here are *120*225# for the African Bank voucher and *120*355# for a Postbank card site.
Staying safe when you collect
Grant pay points attract people who prey on grant recipients. A few habits that cost you nothing:
Never share your PIN or OTP with anyone, including someone claiming to be from SASSA, Postbank or African Bank. None of them will ever ask you for it.
Never pay anyone a fee to “release” your grant, change your payment method or fix your status. Every official process is free.
Shield the keypad, count your money before you leave the till, and be aware of who is watching you at the counter.
Only use srd.sassa.gov.za. Check the spelling in the address bar every time, because fake SRD sites exist and they exist to harvest your ID number.
Common questions
Can I withdraw my SRD money without a card? Yes, and that is the standard way it works. There is no SRD card. Select the African Bank Cash Send option, wait for the voucher SMS, then collect cash at a Shoprite, Checkers, Usave or OK till using your ID and PIN.
Can I withdraw only part of my grant? No. The full approved amount for the month is paid out in one transaction.
Can someone else collect it for me? No. Your ID and your registered cellphone number are both checked at the till.
What if I lost my phone or changed my number? Update your cellphone number on the SRD portal first. Everything else, the secure link and the voucher, is sent to that number, so nothing will work until it is correct.
Are there fees? Yes. A service fee applies to cash collection, and it is disclosed to you when you collect. Bank deposit avoids the collection fee, although your own bank’s charges will apply.
How long is my voucher valid? One month. Dial *120*225# to reset it if it fails while it is still live.
What if I lose my SASSA card? If you mean the gold or black card for a permanent grant, contact Postbank on 0800 53 54 55, not SASSA. SASSA does not issue cards.