When it comes to buying a house or car, a bank would consider both your affordability as well as your credit score. Your affordability will determine how much the bank will lend you, but your credit score determines your interest rate, or whether...
Listen: From over-indebted to debt free in six months
Money Makeover winner Samke chats to Maya and Mapalo about her experience of struggling with debt from her first paycheque and how she achieved her goal of being debt free by the age of 27. Ahead of Youth Day, Samke’s story highlights the...
How much are you paying for credit life insurance?
If you have any credit facility or a loan, there is a good change you have credit life insurance. This is an insurance which settles the loan should you die or become disabled, and in some cases covers your repayments for a period of time if you...
Can your unpaid e-tolls affect your credit record?
The Credit Bureau Association (CBA) recently stated that credit bureaus will not hold information regarding outstanding e-tolls. Legally the bureaus could hold this information as SANRAL qualifies as a ‘prescribed person’ who could submit payment...
When to pay that car deposit
One of the more frequent questions I get asked is whether it makes sense to pay an upfront deposit when buying a car. It seems that dealerships are advising customers not to pay the deposit upfront, but rather to make a lump-sum payment 24 months...
Are you in control of your credit profile?
By Mellony Ramalho, African Bank Group Executive The start of a new year is a great time to review your finances and saving habits and to check up on your credit profile. Often it is only when you apply for credit and get turned down that you...
Can a credit card save you money?
A social media follower recently asked me how he could benefit from using a credit card. The answer is that is depends entirely on your self-discipline. If you are the personality type who may make all sorts of promises to only use it for...
What the Debt Relief Bill means to consumers
Beware the false hope behind debt relief headlines The National Credit Amendment Bill, which includes details around debt relief, was recently approved by the National Assembly, but it still has a while to go before it becomes law. The so-called...
How to protect yourself from loan scams
By Gareth Mountain, Head of Sales at Lending and Innovation Company Olico The current economic situation we’re experiencing in South Africa has created a strong appetite for credit. Often consumers need to borrow money out of desperation just to...
Shopping around for credit insurance
The pricing cap on credit insurance is good news for new loans, but many existing credit customers are still paying over the odds. In August last year, price caps were introduced on how much a credit provider could charge for credit insurance and...
Previous Articles
Why you shouldn’t be holding out for debt forgiveness
There is a misconception that debt intervention proposals currently being considered could mean that some debts are likely to be written off. The high levels of indebtedness in South Africa have led to parliamentary hearings, held by the portfolio committee on Trade...
Have the courts made it easier for people to become overindebted?
Last week the Western Cape High Court issued a judgement which set aside certain sections of the National Credit Act which it argued “unreasonably and unfairly discriminates against the section of the population that largely consists of the poorer and less privileged...
Debt is a trap, no matter who you borrow from
I recently wrote about readers who were complaining about loan shark tactics that got them trapped in a perpetual cycle of debt. Since writing the article, I received several comments from readers who argued that the actions of some micro-lenders were no different,...
Borrowing without a credit record
CreditVision, a new product from TransUnion, should make it easier to get financing without a credit record. One of the reader queries we receive regularly is from people who have chosen not to take out short-term credit. They have sensibly avoided credit cards and...
Cheaper credit insurance
On 9 August, the new limits on how much a lender can charge for credit insurance came into effect. Credit insurance is usually required when taking out a loan; the policy assists in the repayment of the loan if you die, are retrenched or become disabled. For several...
Consumers are starting to manage their credit better
Tighter lending criteria as well as consumer awareness is resulting in an improvement in debt levels. The latest figures from the TransUnion SA Consumer Credit Index suggest that South African consumers are starting to wean themselves off credit and are learning to...
Video: Why a woman should have a credit record
The experience of an 80-year-old widow turns into an important lesson on why every woman needs to have her own credit record. https://youtu.be/bDhwXXcJOiY Related: Women and money Should a wife have her own financial adviser? Why money is different for women Women and...
No more credit insurance rip-offs
A cap placed on how much a lender can charge for credit insurance could result in cheaper loans, but some warn it could also cut credit to higher-risk individuals. Last month the Department of Trade and Industry issued the final credit life insurance regulations which...
Why save for a holiday when you can borrow?
We’ve lost the plot when it comes to borrowing and saving Recently I had a conversation with a young woman who, along with her husband, is under debt review. She told me that they had just let their lifestyle get ahead of them – they bought a house, went a bit...
Five myths about your credit report
Sharon Coppola, Senior Executive Risk and Compliance at Experian South Africa, unpacks the myths and truths behind credit reports and credit scores. As more South Africans seek ways to manage their personal finances during the current economic times, it has become...