The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has extended its Master Services Agreement (MSA) with Postbank by a further three months. In December 2023, Sassa gave Postbank six months’ notice to terminate the contract, citing a breakdown in the relationship between the two state entities as well as reputational risks caused by Postbank’s shortcomings. The MSA was introduced in 2018 to protect social grant beneficiaries’ accounts from bank charges and unauthorised deductions, which had been widespread under the previous contractor. Under the MSA, Postbank recovers social grant transaction costs through payments from Sassa, rather than charging beneficiaries bank fees. This has been an ongoing challenge for recipients served by Postbank, “which Sassa highlighted as reasons for the termination”, Fayker said.