Registered lenders with an app
The apps below are the ones each provider links to from its own home page, checked on 3 November 2026. All four lend small amounts for a short term — from R500 to R4 000 on a first loan, repaid within weeks — and all four are on the National Credit Regulator's register.
Prime Loans (NCRCP20937) has an app on Google Play and the App Store. Its App Store listing, published by Prime Loans Technology (Pty) Ltd, offers loans of R500 to R4 000.
LendPlus (NCRCP17814) has an app on Google Play and the App Store, alongside its website.
CrediWise (NCRCP22496) has an app on Google Play, next to applications on its website.
Jabulani Money (NCRCP22362) has an app on Google Play, next to applications on its website.
Most of the other providers we list take applications on their website only, and it works the same on a phone browser. Our list of registered lenders shows every provider with its amounts, terms and registration number.
Is an app better than the website?
Not in what you pay or in your chance of approval. The lender runs the same assessment whichever way you apply, and the quotation, the agreement and the cost caps are the same. What an app adds is convenience after the loan: checking the balance, the repayment date and the settlement amount, and applying again without typing everything a second time.
An app also costs storage and data. If you will borrow once, the lender's website is enough.
What a loan through an app may cost
Loans in these apps are short-term credit: up to R8 000, repaid within six months. The National Credit Regulations cap interest at 5% a month on the first such loan in a calendar year, and cap the initiation fee and the monthly service fee as well. Together with VAT, a R1 000 loan over 30 days may cost at most R308.07 and a R4 000 loan over 30 days at most R801.01.
Many offers cost less than that maximum. The pre-agreement quotation, which the lender must show before you sign, gives the exact total in rand; compare that number, not the speed of the app.
How to tell a real loan app from a fake
Copies of well-known loan apps are common: the name and logo look right, but the developer and the bank account belong to someone else. Install a lender's app only through the store link on the lender's own website, and check the developer name on the store page before you install.
Look up the lender's name and registration number on the National Credit Regulator's register. A provider that is not on the register may not lend money, whatever its app looks like.
Read the permissions the app asks for. A lending app needs your ID, your income and access to your bank statements for the affordability check. It has no reason to read your contacts, your messages or your photos. Apps that take a borrower's contact list and then message family and colleagues about the debt break the Protection of Personal Information Act; delete such an app and report it.
Never pay anything to unlock a loan. A registered lender charges its initiation fee only when the agreement is concluded, usually adds it to the loan, and never asks you to pay first. The National Credit Regulator calls upfront payments unlawful. Our guide on loan scams lists the other warning signs.
Bank apps
If you bank with one of the large banks, its banking app may already offer you a loan, because the bank sees your salary and account history. An offer in a banking app is still a credit agreement: read the quotation for the rate, the fees, credit life insurance and the total you repay before you accept it.
What to check before you apply in any app
The lender's name and registration number on the National Credit Regulator's register, and that the app came from the link on the lender's website.
The total you will repay, from the quotation, and the date the repayment will be taken from your account. A debit order that runs before your salary arrives is the usual way a small loan becomes an expensive one.
That you can repay without taking another loan. If you already have several short-term loans, a registered debt counsellor can tell you whether you are over-indebted.
Comparing before you install
You do not need an app to compare. On small loans RandScout shows the registered providers whose rules fit your answers, with their amounts and terms, and you then apply on the provider's own site or app. RandScout is not a lender and has no loan app of its own: the provider decides, and we never ask you for money.