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  1. Home
  2. On a benefit
  3. Payments
  4. Getting a payment card

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On a benefit

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Getting a payment card

Payment cards are used to buy one-off costs, for example food, groceries, glasses or dental treatment. Find out how we can help with these costs, how to apply and how to get a payment card.

Information

You must have set a personalised PIN on your payment card before you can use it. Find out how to set your PIN

If you're a young person in Youth Service getting payments, there are a few differences in getting and using your payment card. Find out more on the Youth Service website:

Payments | Youth Service - ratonga taiohi

How to apply for help with a cost

If you need help with an urgent, unexpected or one-off essential cost, you can find out how we can help here:

Urgent or unexpected costs
Essential living costs

The links above will also tell you how to apply for these costs. If your application is approved, we'll check how we can pay this. Some costs will not need a payment card – we'll let you know if this is the case.

If we need to put this onto a payment card for you, we'll check if you already have a card. If you don't, you'll need to pick up a card from your local service centre - see below to find out how to do this.

How to get a payment card

Step 1:

Once your application is approved, pick up a payment card from any of our service centres. There's a list of their locations here:

Find a service centre

Step 2:

Go to reception and ask for a payment card. You need to have:

  • your client number
  • a government issued identity document (for example a driver licence, birth certificate, or passport).

You don't need an appointment for this.

Step 3:

Our staff will finish your application and load the money onto your card.

They will tell you:

  • how much money is on the card - you can also check this online in MyMSD
  • which shops you can use it at
  • what you can buy with it
  • how long the money will stay on the card for.

Step 4:

You need to set a PIN on your card before you can use it.

The easiest way is to do it online:

  1. Log in to MyMSD.
  2. Go to 'My payment cards'.
  3. Select the card you want to add a PIN for.
  4. Enter a 4-digit PIN - don't use a PIN that is consecutive, easily associated with you (like birthdays), or the numbers on your card.
  5. Re-enter your PIN.

If you can't use MyMSD to set your PIN, call us and say "set my card PIN", or go here if you're deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech impairment.

If you've registered your voice you can set your PIN over the phone at any time without waiting to talk to a person. If you haven't registered your voice you'll need to call during our contact centre opening hours to talk to us.

You can follow the same steps above to reset your PIN or unlock your card.

Step 5:

Sign the back of your card. When you use the card you will need to sign your receipt, and the shop staff will check this matches the signature on your card.

Keep your payment card in a safe place. If you need further payments, we can load them onto this card, so you don't need to go to a service centre to get another one.

Getting a Notice of Credit letter instead of a payment card

There are times when we need to give you a Notice of Credit letter instead of a payment card. This can happen when:

  • the EFTPOS network or our internal systems are down
  • there's a state of emergency or natural disaster
  • you're unable to use a payment card.

When you call us to apply, we'll talk about whether you need this letter.

Related

Problems with your payment card
How to use your payment card
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