Many card issuers offer the budget facility as a vehicle for card holders to consolidate their existing debt and — in return — they offer customers an incentive in the pricing, in the form of preferential interest rates.
The rising popularity of debit cards complements the traditional credit card market.
Credit card initiatives and product innovations — many related to pricing — are about to be spawned in the marketplace as a direct result of the challenges the National Credit Act (NCA) originally posed to the banking fraternity.
The South African credit card industry is bracing itself for a new round of innovation and competition.
The provision in the National Credit Act to assist overindebted people to restructure their debt through debt counselling was not designed as a punitive measure — nor as a measure to enable debt-stressed people to borrow more money to pay off debt.
The commercial and wholesale banking arena differs from conventional retail banking, given the complexity and sophistication of business banking products and offerings in this highly specialised market segment. Oscar Grobler, of Absa Corporate Business Bank, says banks have struggled to define how they should segment their business banking offering.
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/ 19 September 2007
South Africa’s presidency presented a challenge to Stellenbosch University towards the end of 2000 — to develop a programme that addresses the HIV/Aids pandemic. So was born the postgraduate diploma in the management of HIV/Aids, which has now been accepted as a model for the African continent.
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/ 19 September 2007
Celebrating 12 years of mental health and advocacy this year, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) is Africa’s largest and most recognised mental health initiative. Noteworthy among the accolades it has achieved was a substantial grant from the World Bank Development Marketplace in 2003.
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/ 19 September 2007
Absa’s social investments stand in the context of its wider role in all the societies in which it operates. The Absa Healthcare Initiative Awards, to be held for the second time this year, are a major component of the 2007 Pan-African Health Congress.
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/ 19 September 2007
In 1999 global pharmaceutical and healthcare company Bristol-Myers Squibb and the BMS Foundation made what to this day is the largest corporate commitment to fight HIV/Aids in Africa. This came through the launch of Secure the Future: Care and Support for Women and Children with HIV/Aids. The programme is a $150-million investment, with projects in 12 African countries.