The Ombudsman for Banking Services has told Moneyweb that disputed debit order complaints are up 54% over the past year.<\/p>\n
Clive Pillay attributes the rise to increased financial pressure on South African consumers who have experienced a torrid 2016.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a worrying sign that so many people are cash-strapped and that so many people are over-indebted,\u201d Pillay told Moneyweb.<\/p>\n
Data from the Payments Association of South Africa (Pasa) revealed that approximately 31 million debit orders are processed countrywide each month, of which 1.2 million are unpaid while 170,000 are disputed.<\/p>\n
Pasa said that almost 14 million non-authenticated early debt orders are processed each month, four million of which are unsuccessful, with 600,000 disputed.<\/p>\n
Non-authenticated debit orders are those transactions processed prior to the agreed date.<\/p>\n
Pillay told Moneyweb<\/a> that an estimated 90% of disputed debit orders are for so-called \u2018cash management\u2019 reasons.<\/p>\n Momentum Investments noted earlier this month that growth in household credit slowed down significantly, making it one of the weakest household credit cycles in history.<\/p>\n Consumers are increasingly feeling the pinch of the cumulative 200 basis points worth of The National Credit Regulator report in March 2016 showed that fewer consumers are applying for credit, with a 3,9% drop in applications compared to the previous year.<\/p>\n Momentum also showed that fixed-rate unsecured debt has grown at an average annual rate of 17% since January 2008.<\/p>\n You can now reverse unauthorised debit orders online in SA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
\ninterest rate hikes since January 2014, rising inflation (largely owing to currency pressures and drought – inflicted food price shocks) and further job losses (112 000 jobs lost over the pas t year), it said.<\/p>\nMore on debit orders in SA<\/h3>\n