Postbank, once championed as a no-fee banking option for social grant recipients, has lost about 75% of its grant customers in the past five years. The number of beneficiaries paid through Postbank plunged to 3-million in June 2025, as payment delays, technical glitches and cyberattacks drove millions away.

As Postbank faltered, Capitec surged. In June 2025, 7.6-million people collected their grants through Capitec, 40% of the 19-million recipients that month. According to SASSA, 12-million received permanent social grants (such as child support, old-age, or disability), while 7-million received the social relief of distress grant, a temporary grant introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and repeatedly extended.

• Produced by The Outlier in partnership with GroundUp.