Editorial policy

What we write, and for whom

Our guides and loan pages explain how credit works in South Africa: what a loan costs, what the law lets a credit provider charge, how providers decide, and what to do if debt becomes too much. We write for people deciding whether to borrow, not for people selling loans, and we say plainly when not borrowing, borrowing less or speaking to a debt counsellor is the better choice.

These pages are general information. They are not financial, legal or debt advice for your situation, and RandScout is not a credit provider, a debt counsellor or a financial adviser.

Where the facts come from

Every statement about the law is checked against the primary source: the National Credit Act and its Regulations, and the published guidelines and notices of the National Credit Regulator and other regulators. Each guide lists the sources it relies on at the end, with links, so you can check them yourself.

The legal limits on interest and fees are not typed into the text by hand. They come from the same figures our loan cost calculator uses, so when the Reserve Bank moves the repo rate and the interest cap moves with it, every page that quotes the cap changes together.

What a particular provider offers — its amounts, terms, rates and requirements — comes from the provider, directly or through the affiliate network we work with, and we show the date its terms were last checked. The provider’s own quotation before you sign is always the figure that counts.

How we write and check

• Every fact is checked against its primary source before a page is published, and the guides list those sources.
• We do not promise approval, and we do not use words like “guaranteed” or “pre-approved”, and automated tests check our guides and loan pages for such wording.
• We review the legal figures whenever the law or the repo rate changes. Each page shows the date it was last updated in a way a reader would notice; spelling fixes do not change the date.

Independence from what providers pay

We are paid by some of the providers we list, usually when you open their offer or take a loan with them. How we are paid explains how, and how we compare explains how payment can affect which offers you see and in what order. It does not affect what our guides say: no provider sees, approves or pays for the content of a guide or a loan page, and we do not accept paid articles.

Corrections

If you find something on this site that is wrong or out of date, tell us on the contact page. We check every report, correct the page as soon as we confirm the error, and update its date.

Who is behind RandScout

The company that operates RandScout and its contact details are on the about page and in our privacy policy. We do not publish the names of individual staff.