An emergency fund is your most important savings priority. Thanks to a collision with an uninsured driver and vet bills due to a dog with a penchant for swallowing bouncing balls, our household was faced with thousands of rands worth of unexpected...
Michael wonders whether it's legal for a bank to charge more than double the amount of his personal loan. “I recently applied for a personal loan of R79 000 to buy a car as I did not qualify for car finance due to a poor credit record. After costs,...
Borrowers are invoking their rights against unscrupulous lenders and debt counsellors. A greater awareness by consumers around their rights when it comes to borrowing money has led to an increase in complaints related to non-bank credit...
The National Credit Regulator (NCR) is working with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to target "loan sharks" - credit providers who are using abusive methods to collect outstanding debts. ‘Operation Siyanda’ which was held in the Northern...
Changes to the National Credit Act are necessary to deal with reckless lending, but proposed amendments may have unintended consequences. The Department of Trade and Industry recently proposed amendments to the National Credit Act to deal with...
The 27th of April is Freedom Day in South Africa, marking the annual celebration of South Africa's first non-racial democratic elections in 1994. Since political freedom, South Africans have striven to correct the wrongs of the past. South Africa...
A task team headed by Credit Ombud Manie van Schalkwyk has been established to investigate current practices and establish a code of conduct to address concerns that emolument attachment orders, loosely referred to as garnishee orders, are...
Putting a personal financial plan into action After writing my review on the South African version of Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover, I received an email from a reader who shared his experience of getting his finances in order after reading the...
Without a proper record of credit, can a provider be responsible for reckless lending asks Maya Fisher-French How does someone get into the position where their debt levels reach 217% of their income and who is responsible? While a desperate...
We are starting to see cases of reckless lending being brought before the courts, but the process will remain slow unless the National Credit Regulator provides support Despite many court rulings charging credit providers with reckless lending, the...
How the experience of editing the Total Money Makeover changed the way I view my finances Having written on personal finance for the last nine years and being a financially savvy person, I didn’t think there was much I would learn from working on the Total Money...
Nicky Campbell, consumer lawyer and author of the DIY Credit Repair toolkit says that harassment is common in the debt collection industry. Such harassment often leads to the consumer signing an acknowledgement of debt or making some sort of payment towards the...
I was on my way to present at a conference about the lack of savings culture in South Africa when I first received a press release about Wonga.com. According to their release you could borrow money in six minutes. Six minutes to get a loan! This was great content for...
The DIY Credit Repair Toolkit is a must have for anyone who wants to take control of their debts If you have taken on too much debt and are struggling to manage it; have had legal action against you or even if you are just thinking about taking on credit for the first...
It is that time of year when many students will be selecting their courses for the year. In an ideal world one would have saved enough to pay for one’s studies, but unfortunately this is seldom the case and most students need to consider taking a loan. Borrowing money...
Homeowners can reduce the term of their home loan and the total that they pay in with careful budgeting and clever tricks. A house is usually the biggest asset that you will buy in your lifetime, but it's made affordable by the 20-year term of monthly repayments. Most...
The National Debt Mediation Association (NDMA) was created as a non-profit centre where consumers can lodge complaints about credit providers as well as issues with the debt counseling process. However, Magauta Mphahlele, CEO of the NDMA, says they were receiving many...
“I am really committed to getting out of debt and I have R4000 a month to do so. I currently owe R30 000 on my FNB Credit Card, R25 000 on my ABSA credit card and I have a loan with FNB for R15 000. Should I consider debt consolidation?” asks Nina. Maya replies: You...
“I want to clear my debt this year which I believe I can do if I focus. Should I consider debt consolidation where I use one loan to clear all my debts and then commit to paying off the one loan over 18 months? The debt is spread across SARS, personal loans, Nashua...
Six months ago Barclays Wealth predicted that South African interest rates would increase by 200 basis points by the end of 2012. At that time banks were charging around 115 basis points above their existing rate for clients to fix their mortgage for two years. Today...