A man holds South African rand notes on a counter. Picture: Karen Sandison/Independent Media
The rollout of the two-pot retirement system had led to a surge in activity for Sanlam Corporate, which received more than 20 000 savings component claims via its portal and app on just the first two working days of September.
This volume far exceeds the monthly average of 7 000 to 8 000 retirement, withdrawal, or retrenchment claims that is usually processed by Sanlam Corporate. The average claim amount remained steady at R20 000 over the two days.
From the beginning of September, retirement fund holders could make a once-off withdrawal of 10% from their existing pension savings, up to a maximum of R30 000, immediately. South Africa’s biggest retirement funding groups – Old Mutual, Sanlam and Momentum – have, according to reports, seen big interest so far.
Old Mutual, for instance, reported that 190 000 of its clients had interacted with it so far last week on its dedicated two-pot WhatsApp channel.
“Most claims were processed through Sanlam’s straight-through processing capabilities, requiring minimal manual intervention” said Sanlam Corporate managing executive Nzwa Shoniwa.
“This indicates effective communication with our clients prior to two-pot implementation and the success of the preparation measures put in place,” she said.
The high demand on the Sanlam Corporate Portal and Sanlam Portfolio App during the initial days of the system’s launch demonstrated the strong interest in the two-pot system, she said.
The app and portal had seen a surge of new registrations since September 3 of 750% compared to the usual daily sign-ups. This was anticipated by the team.
This is because the 2024 Sanlam Benchmark Survey had found a marked increase in consumer awareness in the lead up to two-pot’s launch, with 59% of respondents planning to access the savings component in 2024, compared to just 31% in 2022.
“We know South Africans are struggling financially given the current economic climate. The number of members resigning or being retrenched from their employers who encashed all or some of their retirement savings increased from 53% in 2022 to 72% in 2024. Of these members in 2024, 54% spent their encashed retirement savings on paying living expenses and reducing and settling debt. People are using these funds to make ends meet,” said Shoniwa.
“ This is one of the key objectives of the two-pot system – to provide South Africans with access to emergency funds when they really need it,” she said.
To manage the surge in client engagement, Sanlam Corporate extended the operating hours of its client contact centre.
This experienced a 750% increase in call volumes during the first few days of September, compared to previous years, peaking on September 4 at close to 7500 calls and WhatsApps.
“We anticipated a high volume of queries and have implemented measures to support our clients effectively through this transition,” said Sanlam Umbrella Solutions head of product development Anna Siwiak.
Over the past two days, tax directives requests have been submitted and received back from SARS without delays. Roughly 1% of the tax directive requests have been rejected by SARS, and for 13% of requests, SARS issued an IT88.
As a reminder, SARS will issue an IT88 if a member has outstanding tax from a previous period or has not submitted one or more annual tax returns for their personal taxes. These outstanding tax amounts will then be deducted from the members’ savings component claim prior to payment to the member.
BUSINESS REPORT