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
In a world of escalating bad news about crime, poverty, violence and ill health, one project has generated good news, provided hope and turned the tide — the Cipla Medpro Miles for Smiles Foundation. The foundation challenged two extreme athletes to participate in a radical event of their choice to capture the attention of all South Africans.
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/ 19 September 2007
Since doctors diagnosed the first case of Aids in Botswana in 1985, the disease has spread through the population of 1,7 million at a staggering rate. Today, 25% of adults aged 15 to 49 are infected with HIV. Life expectancy in this small sub-Saharan country has plunged from over 65 to about the age of 52.
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/ 19 September 2007
The importance of keeping accurate short-term sick leave (STSL) statistics is becoming increasingly apparent to South African companies. And, for the first time, the South African market is able to assess STSL data that allows it to benchmark these statistics objectively against local norms.
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/ 19 September 2007
When you are on the seashore in distress and help is needed fast, dialling 082 911 will unleash a well-oiled rescue machine in the form of Netcare 911 paramedics, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) and Surf Lifesaving SA. Should the distress call come over a weekend or the summer holidays, the chances are that help will arrive by air — a Vodacom Netcare 911 sea rescue helicopter.