Postbank: Sassa grant payment problems not another cyber attack

Postbank says technical difficulties that left thousands of social grant beneficiaries without money was not because of another cyber attack on their systems.

The glitch left many of the most desperate in the country unable to get their grant from the ATM, post office or retailers.

Postbank spokesperson Dr Bongani Diako confirmed the issue was being addressed and people were able to withdraw their grant from ATMs and the Post Office. Diako added the company hoped retailers would soon be able start paying grants again soon.

Last year, Postbank confirmed it suffered a cybercrime attack incident resulting in a financial loss of approximately R90m. This was followed by a technical glitch to the Sassa gold card a few months later.

The latest problems led to fears hackers had again targeted the company, something denied by Diako in a chat with The Citizen.

READ ALSO: Sassa grants halted due to technical difficulty at Postbank

Diako called the technical challenges “an isolated incident not related to the validity of the Postbank Sassa gold cards”.

This means Sassa customers using the Postbank Gold Cards can now immediately access their social grants moneys via ATM’s and Post Office branches.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance encouraged Sassa beneficiaries to ditch the Postbank and open bank accounts at reliable banks that would not leave them stranded without access to their funds.

READ ALSO: Sassa grant payments resume at the post office and via ATM

The cyber attack, which occurred in late 2021 but was confirmed last year, resulted in a financial loss of approximately R90m.

Postbank said the incident was detected and no customers lost money in the attack.

“The cybercrime attack was complex and coordinated, typical of organised financial crime. While Postbank wishes not to provide too much information about the method used for this cybercrime incident, the incident involved an unauthorised attack on a database through the Post Office network that Postbank uses,” the bank said at the time.