Banks do not approve loans by gut feel. There is a specific, regulated six-step affordability calculation every registered credit provider must follow. This guide walks through the complete process — from income verification to bank statement debit order extraction to living expense tables to the final NDI instalment test — so you can run the calculation yourself before applying.
Every registered lender in South Africa must complete an affordability check before approving any loan — it is not optional, and it is not the same as a credit check. This guide explains exactly what gets assessed during an affordability check, how it differs from a credit score assessment, what your legal rights are in the process, and the four preparation steps that produce the strongest possible result.
Factory workers are formally employed and consistently earning — but shift allowances, overtime, and bonuses create income variation that automated lending systems don’t always read correctly. This guide shows exactly which income components count toward qualification, when to time your application in the production cycle, and how to present shift-based income as strongly as possible.
South African students who need access to credit face a specific challenge: most loan qualification requires verifiable income, and most students — particularly full-time students — do not have a regular income. The credit market that serves employed adults is largely inaccessible to someone whose primary activity is studying rather than earning. But ‘largely inaccessible’ … Read more
No payslip doesn’t mean no loan. South African specialist lenders can verify income through bank statements, business registration documents, and signed employer letters. This guide maps the alternative evidence for every employment type — from self-employed to informally paid — and the lenders built to assess it.
Being self-employed doesn’t disqualify you from getting a loan in South Africa — it changes the documentation required and the lenders best suited to assess your application. This guide covers the full document stack, the 6-month income averaging method, and the specialist lenders whose assessment models are built for variable income.
Interest on a short term loan is not a fixed fee added to the principal. It is a cost that accrues on the outstanding balance — which means it reduces as the balance reduces, and it responds to every decision made during the loan term: the term chosen at origination, any extra payments made, and … Read more
Bad credit is not permanent. Every adverse listing on a South African credit bureau file has a defined maximum retention period — after which it is legally required to be removed, regardless of whether the underlying debt was paid, settled, or written off. The retention periods are set by the National Credit Act and enforced … Read more
Most credit score advice is written for the long game — building score over years. But there is a specific, higher-leverage version of this question that applies to borrowers with a defined loan application in mind: what can be done in the weeks and months before applying to present the strongest possible credit profile at … Read more
Fixing a low credit score is not a single action. It is a sequenced programme of specific interventions, each targeting a defined component of the score, executed in the order that produces the greatest improvement per month against the specific profile in question. The sequence matters as much as the actions — doing the right … Read more