What the law asks a lender to check
Before it lends, every registered lender must check that you can afford the repayments, and it must verify your income. For people in a job the regulations name payslips or bank statements that show the salary arriving. For self-employed and informally employed people they name the latest three months' bank statements or the latest financial statements.
So a payslip is one way to prove income, not the only one. What a lender cannot do is lend without any proof at all: lending to someone it has not assessed is reckless credit under the National Credit Act, and a court can set such an agreement aside.
Lenders that accept bank statements
When we read their sites on 1 November 2026, these short-term lenders listed bank statements rather than a payslip. CreditBar asks for a valid SA ID and bank statements for the last three months, and says self-employed people can apply. Jabulani Money asks for an SA ID and your three most recent bank statements, also from self-employed applicants. Kredio asks for an SA ID and a bank statement not older than three months. Crediflow asks for an SA ID, three months of statements and a regular income.
Requirements change, and each lender still decides on its own assessment. Our page on small loans lists registered lenders with their NCR numbers, and four short questions show which of them take applicants in your situation before you apply anywhere.
What your statements need to show
Lenders read statements for money coming in regularly: a salary, wages paid weekly, commission or payments from your own clients. They also look at what goes out, such as debit orders for other loans, and at whether the account runs into the red before the next deposit. Transfers between your own accounts do not count as income.
Use the account your income is paid into, and download the statements as a PDF from your banking app or internet banking. If you work for yourself, keep business income in one account and pay yourself from it; our page on loans for self-employed people explains how lenders treat income that changes from month to month.
When «only your SA ID» is a warning sign
Adverts that promise a loan with nothing but your ID number skip the step the law requires. A registered lender may ask for little paperwork, but it must still see proof of income, and it checks your credit record when you apply. An offer that needs no proof of anything is usually not from a registered lender.
The clearest sign of a scam is a request for money before the loan is paid out, whether it is called an admin fee, insurance or a release fee. The National Credit Regulator warns that upfront payments for a loan are unlawful. Check the NCR number on the regulator's register, never pay in advance and never share your banking PIN.