Side by side
Prime Loans is run by Prime Loans Technology (Pty) Ltd, registered as a company in 2024 and with the National Credit Regulator as NCRCP20937. LendPlus is run by Lendplus Technology (Pty) Ltd, registered as a company in 2023 and with the regulator as NCRCP17814. Both names and numbers are printed at the bottom of their own websites, and you can check them on the regulator's register.
The loans themselves are almost the same product: R500 to R4 000 on a first loan, repaid over 5 to 35 days, applied for online or in an app. Both have an app on Google Play and on the App Store, and both have a page on Hellopeter where you can read what customers report.
What each one asks for is also close: a South African ID, at least three months in your current job and a bank statement that shows three months of income. LendPlus adds two conditions of its own: you must be 21 or older, and you need a valid cellphone number.
Where they differ
Age is the difference that decides most cases. If you are 18, 19 or 20, LendPlus will not consider you and Prime Loans may.
Speed is described a little differently. Prime Loans says on its home page that approval generally takes up to 30 minutes and that the money then reaches your account within minutes; LendPlus says its approval process takes at least 15 minutes. Both depend on your bank's transfer times, and neither speed is a promise of approval.
Both offer to postpone the repayment date if you pay the interest due. That keeps the debit order from bouncing, but it is not free: you pay a month's interest and still owe the whole loan. Treat it as an emergency option, not a plan.
What each may cost
The price ceiling is the same, because the law sets it, not the lender. A loan of up to R8 000 repaid within six months is short-term credit: interest is capped at 5% a month on the first such loan in a calendar year, and the initiation fee and the monthly service fee are capped as well. With VAT, R1 000 over 30 days may cost at most R308.07 and R4 000 over 30 days at most R801.01.
What you are actually offered can be lower, and it can differ between the two for the same amount. Before you sign, each must give you a pre-agreement quotation with the total in rand. Compare those totals, not the advertised speed.
Which to choose
If you are under 21, start with Prime Loans. If you are 21 or older and meet both sets of requirements, the deciding number is the total in each quotation, and a lower one is worth a few minutes of waiting.
Apply to one at a time. Every application is an enquiry on your credit record, and several in a few days can make the next lender more careful. If one declines you, read why before you apply to the other: both must check that you can afford the repayment, so the same gap in your budget will usually show in both assessments.
Not sure you meet either? Our page on small loans shows every registered provider whose rules fit your answers, and the loan calculator shows the most any amount and term may cost.