SASSA needs a way to pay you before an approved R370 month turns into money. For the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, you give SASSA that payment method yourself, online, at srd.sassa.gov.za. The same steps apply whether you are adding bank details for the first time or moving the grant to a different account. It is free, and nobody else needs to do it for you.
Check the account qualifies before you start
SASSA confirms every account with the bank before it releases a payment. The account you capture must pass that check, so make sure it is:
- In your own name. The name and ID number the bank holds must be yours, the same person as on the SRD application. SASSA has said plainly that it cannot pay one person’s grant into another person’s account, so a parent’s, partner’s or friend’s account will fail.
- Open and active. A closed or dormant account cannot receive the payment either.
- Able to receive an electronic transfer (EFT). Ordinary savings, cheque and transmission accounts at registered banks, including a Postbank account, work for this.
Have the bank’s name, the branch (or universal branch code), the account type and the full account number in front of you. A recent three-month bank statement is worth keeping ready too: SASSA’s 2026 grant booklet asks for one whenever bank details are new or changed, and an office will want to see it if you end up sorting this out in person.
Capturing the details on srd.sassa.gov.za
- Go to srd.sassa.gov.za, keying in the address by hand. There is no username or password on this site; if you are unsure how the site recognises you, our explainer on how SRD access works without a login covers it.
- Choose the option for banking or payment details and enter your 13-digit ID number.
- SASSA sends an SMS with a secure link to the phone number you gave SASSA when you applied. Open that link on the same phone.
- Select your bank, then fill in the branch, the account type and the account number. Type the number from your card or statement, not from memory, and check each digit before you continue.
- Submit, and note the date. SASSA then runs its check with your bank.
Fill in every field. In 2023 SASSA said many delayed payments came from people who picked a bank’s name but left out the account number, which gives SASSA nothing to pay into. If the SMS link never arrives, the registered number is probably no longer yours, and that has to be fixed first.
Bank account or cash: which to choose
A bank account in your name is the more reliable choice. The R370 goes straight into it, you are not tied to one collection point, and you can draw it when it suits you. SASSA has described bank payment as the faster route since the grant began.
Cash suits people without an account, but the options have shrunk. Post Office counters no longer pay grants, and since 1 May 2026 Postbank has offered no cash services at Post Office branches at all. If you prefer cash, pick from whatever cash option the SRD site lists for you when you reach the payment step, and read our page on collecting the SRD grant in cash before you go anywhere.
After you press submit
Changing your bank details does not change whether you qualify; each month is still assessed on its own. The new account only matters for months SASSA approves from here on. To see whether SASSA took the update and which month will land in the new account, use our guide to confirming a banking details update. If your status instead shows a message about your bank details, what each banking status message means explains the cause and fix.
Keep the SMS link and the one-time PIN to yourself. SASSA never asks for your bank card PIN, and a person offering to “load” your bank details for a fee is not working for SASSA.