The implementation of the two-pot system is fast approaching. We are happy to report that the developments on our administration platform have been completed in anticipation of the 1 September 2024 implementation.
It is important for us to again highlight the substantial fraud risk that all stakeholders will be exposed to if we allow members to enter unverified banking details on the member portal to make a withdrawal from their Emergency Savings Pot.
We have no doubt that syndicates and unscrupulous credit providers will exploit these processes to either defraud members of their retirement savings or use it for non-intended purposes. We have therefore developed several lines of defence to prevent this as far as possible.
Our most important line of defence is to provide employers with the ability to pre-load salary bank account details of their members on the employer portal.
When a member logs into the member portal, their salary bank account details will be pre-populated in a non-editable format. The member will only be required to complete certain fields, such as the withdrawal amount and agree to the terms and conditions.
Very similar to the withdrawal process at resignation, an alternative is for employers to receive the Emergency Savings Pot withdrawal request directly from the member and to submit it via the employer portal.
In this case, the employer will be able to input the member’s bank account details if, for example, the member wants the Emergency Savings Pot withdrawal to be paid into an account other than their salary bank account. As a further line of defence, we will then verify the member’s personal details on our system against the member’s personal details at the relevant bank. Once validated, will we proceed to pay the claim.
Please note the following, which are required to accommodate a smooth transition to the two-pot system:
1. Freeze Period:
- 30 August 2024: Close-of-day unit value to be used for the seeding process.
- 31 August 2024 to 1 September 2024: Seeding process to take place on our administration platform.
- 2 September 2024: Our digital tools will not be available. This means no payment of claims or updating of member data is possible via our online systems.
- 3 September 2024: Seeding completed and our digital tools will be available.
2. Contributions & Benefit Payments:
The timing of monthly contribution payments over the implementation period of the two-pot legislation is important. We recommend, if possible, that the monthly contributions are paid before the end of the month for August 2024 and September 2024.
The rationale for this is as follows:
- August 2024: If monthly contributions are paid and received prior to month end, then a member’s August 2024 contribution will be included in the seeding calculation. If August 2024 contributions are received after month end, these will still be allocated to the vested pot, however they will not be included in the seeding calculation.
- September 2024: Members exiting the fund effective 30 September 2024 will be required to provide us with a payment instruction for each “pot”, according to the two-pot legislation. Our administration system will validate that the necessary instructions are supplied. The earlier payment of the September contributions will assist with the contribution allocation to the exiting member’s Retirement Pot. Sanlam will therefore implement a validation step to prevent the exit form being completed for a member leaving on 30 September 2024, until such time as the September 2024 contributions have been receipted.
It is therefore important to finalise the September 2024 receipting as soon as possible in order for the correct instructions to be obtained from the member prior to them leaving employment.
3. Amendments:
Any amendments to your members current benefit structure must please be submitted to us before 1 August 2024 or postponed until after 1 September 2024. Any amendments at this critical time will have an impact on the implementation of the two-pot system.
4. Online training:
Please contact your Client Relations Manager for assistance and guidance with any assistance relating to the employer portal.
5. Members action required to enable a withdrawal from the Emergency Savings Pot:
- Members must download the Sanlam Portfolio app in order to access their Emergency Savings Pot.
- For ease of reference, here is a video to assist your members with the registration process. Alternatively, they can refer to this poster.
- You may also distribute this brochure to your members for an overview of the two-pot system.
- Understanding your benefit statement brochure and video.
Members can lookout for the Imali Zam sessions invite on two-pot to be held on 1 August 2024 and 7 August 2024.
6. Who to contact:
Any queries relating to the Two-Pot System can be forwarded to our dedicated contact centre. This includes assistance for members to register on the Sanlam Portfolio App.
Contact SC Client Care on:
SCClientCare@sanlam.co.za or send a WhatsApp or call on: 0861 223 646 from 08:00 – 17:00
Please contact your Client Relations Manager should you require any further information or assistance regarding this matter.