Debt-strapped citizens are taking short term loans to ‘balance’ cash flow as wages fail to keep up with the cost of living
This content is restricted to registered users and subscribers.
Get Your Free Account
The Mail & Guardian is committed to providing all our readers with the best possible experience. Please register your free account now. Your registration is your first step to becoming an M&G community member.
Register
Registration enables:
- – M&G newsletters access
- – notifications
- – the best possible experience
Already registered?
Login here
Want to subscribe and get even more benefits?
Explore our subscription offers
Barter, long thought to be our first means of financial interaction, only appeared recently
As millions join the unemployment ranks, relying on debt to make ends meet becomes more attractive
Finance minister warns that government’s increased debt could mean ratings agencies downgrade the country’s credit worthiness to junk
‘Like a compulsive shopper using one credit card to pay off another, too many African governments are taking on too much debt far too casually’
‘An improvement was observed in first-time defaults on personal loans, credit cards and home loans’
Blacklisted? No banking history? A new kind of test could qualify you for a loan.
The technology company has launched a new app that will decide what you can and can’t afford.
By
Report reveals that consumers’ financial vulnerability is growing more acute.
Credit Bureau Association still waiting for more information.
By
Many South Africans struggle to balance the high cost of living with the urge to save for their futures.
Growth in unsecured lending remains high.
South African credit growth has accelerated for the first time this year to 9.1% in April.
By
Of the 18.84-million credit active people in the country, 46.7% of them have impaired records, the National Credit Regulator said in October 2011.
Parliament is going ahead with it, but credit providers say the last one did as much bad as good.
By
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has once again expressed deep concern about the level of consumer debt in the country.
The conundrum facing credit ratings agencies can perhaps be best illustrated by the comments of a director of one of the industry’s largest players.
The latest National Credit Regulator statistics indicate a 13.36% increase in new credit granted to consumers as compared to June 2011.
No image available
/ 29 September 2011
Should you channel money into savings when you have lots of debt piling up? How do you consolidate that debt?
No image available
/ 27 September 2011
Consumers are focusing on paying off their debt and there has been a marked shift away from credit cards and overdraft facilities.
Consumer credit granted has increased 31.2%, a report by the National Credit Regulator has shown, but credit applications have decreased by 3%.
More consumers are in arrears, but there aren’t as many impaired accounts. What does that mean? Read on.
If your aim is to save, be wary of financial instruments that may cost you more than you’ve bargained for.
No image available
/ 3 December 2010
As credit growth starts to pick up, credit card debt declines.
No image available
/ 27 October 2010
Our "stuff" is worth a fraction of what we pay for it so why do we buy it on credit — or even buy it at all?
No image available
/ 2 September 2010
It’s perhaps not entirely surprising that credit growth has lagged and annual growth in credit demand has not risen above 2%.
If you’re a die-hard shopaholic, you’re not alone — four million British women say that over 50% of their debts are due to fashion purchases.
Some people may be confused about when to contact the National Credit Regulator or when to involve the ombudsman over credit complaints.
A reader has been having problems accessing credit in South Africa because as a non SA citizen he does not have a green ID book.
How do you get a credit record when nobody is willing to give you credit?
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.