{"id":523190,"date":"2021-09-26T07:00:31","date_gmt":"2021-09-26T05:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=523190"},"modified":"2021-09-23T17:15:18","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T15:15:18","slug":"cash-strapped-south-africans-reveal-their-credit-scores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/523190\/cash-strapped-south-africans-reveal-their-credit-scores\/","title":{"rendered":"Cash-strapped South Africans reveal their credit scores"},"content":{"rendered":"

New data from consumer credit reporting agency TransUnion shows that South African consumers are desperate to become credit active.<\/p>\n

Consumers remain concerned about their ability to pay their bills and loans. 41% reported they’ve’ been in arrears for a bill or loan in the past three months, indicating a substantial proportion of South Africans remain under financial pressure.<\/p>\n

Of consumers who missed payments in the last three months, 33% reported missing one and two bills or loans, and 17% missed three bills or loans. Furthermore, 79% of consumers are very or extremely concerned about the current inflation rate, and 83% are changing their purchasing behaviour because of inflation.<\/p>\n

However, consumers do express the need and an appetite for credit: 81% of households consider access to credit essential or moderately important, but only 33% believe they currently have sufficient access to credit and lending products.<\/p>\n

Almost a third (31%) plan to apply for new credit or refinance existing credit within the next year \u2014 with new personal loans (43%) and new credit card (35%) applications topping the list.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The study shows a clear consumer appetite for credit. Eight in 10 (81%) households consider access to credit important, but only 33% believe they currently have sufficient access to credit.<\/p>\n

Almost a third (31%) plan to apply for new credit or refinance existing credit within the next year, with new personal loans (43%) and new credit card (35%) applications being on top of the list.<\/p>\n

43% of surveyed consumers considered applying for new credit or refinancing existing credit but ultimately decided not to: 35% felt that the cost of new credit or refinancing was too high, and 32% believed their application would be rejected due to low income or their employment status.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

TransUnion said that most credit and service providers use the information in your credit report as an essential contribution to developing their own credit risk score. <\/span><\/p>\n

“This, along with your employment history; your income and affordability assessments, as well as the type of credit for which you are applying, may affect the outcome of your credit application.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Your Credit Bureau score is calculated using a formula that evaluates how well or poorly you pay your bills, how much debt you carry and how all of that stacks up against other borrowers. <\/span><\/p>\n

“In effect, it tells you in a single number what your credit report says about your management of existing credit.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Credit providers use your credit score to determine whether you qualify for a loan and how much interest you should pay.<\/p>\n

Generally, the higher your score, the better. For example, a TransUnion Consumer Credit Score can range from 0 to 999 or from poor to excellent. The following score bands are defined for the score: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Excellent credit:<\/span> 767 \u2013 999<\/strong>. These individuals will quickly obtain credit and receive meagre interest rates.<\/p>\n

\n

Good credit: <\/span>681 \u2013 766<\/strong>. These borrowers can get the best loan programs and offers at a reasonable rate.<\/p>\n

\n

Favourable credit:<\/span> 614 \u2013 680.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Average Credit:<\/span> 583 – 613.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Below Average Credit:<\/span> 527 \u2013 582<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

Unfavourable Credit:<\/span> 487 \u2013 526<\/strong>. These people may struggle to get a loan, and their interest rates will be higher.<\/p>\n

\n

Poor Credit:<\/span> 0 – 486<\/strong>. Individuals in this category may not qualify for loans and should focus on improving their credit scores.<\/p>\n

\n

Read: How you can improve your credit score, and why it matters<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New data from consumer credit reporting agency TransUnion shows that South African consumers are desperate to become credit active.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":478603,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-523190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523190"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":523932,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523190\/revisions\/523932"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}