What lenders accept instead of a payslip
Every registered lender must verify income before it lends. For salaried people the regulations name payslips or bank statements showing the salary; for self-employed and informally employed people they name your latest three months' bank statements or your latest financial statements. Some lenders also ask for a SARS assessment, recent invoices or a letter from your accountant.
Bank statements carry the most weight because they show money actually arriving. A freelancer whose clients pay into one account, month after month, is far easier to assess than a business owner whose income is split across personal and business accounts or paid partly in cash.
Some lenders say outright that they take self-employed applicants. When we read their sites on 1 November 2026, CreditBar, Jabulani Money and Kredio each wrote that self-employed people can apply with bank statements showing regular deposits; the lender still assesses each application.
How lenders read income that changes
Self-employed income rises and falls, and each lender has its own way of dealing with that. Some average the deposits over three or six months; others take the lowest month as the safe figure. A single large payment in a quiet quarter may be discounted altogether, and transfers between your own accounts do not count as income.
You can make this easier. Keep business income in one account, pay yourself a regular amount into your personal account, and avoid moving money back and forth just before you apply. If one month was unusually low for a reason you can show, such as a client who paid late, be ready to explain it.
What it costs
Self-employed borrowers are covered by the same legal caps as everyone else. For an unsecured loan, interest may be at most the repo rate plus 21% a year, 28.25% today, plus an initiation fee of at most R1 050 and a service fee of at most R60 a month, with VAT. Lenders set their own rate within the cap, and some price variable income as a higher risk.
Compare offers on the total you repay, not on the instalment alone, and check whether the rate is fixed. A longer term lowers the instalment, which can help a lender pass the affordability check, but raises what the loan costs you overall.
Personal or business borrowing
An unsecured personal loan is assessed on your own income and is fully covered by the National Credit Act. Credit to a company or close corporation is assessed on the business, often needs a personal surety from the owner, and larger businesses fall outside the Act altogether. Borrow in the name of whoever earns the money that will repay it.
If the money is for the business, a supplier's payment terms or invoice finance may cost less than a personal loan. If it is for a personal expense, keep it out of the business books.
Where to start
Gather three months of bank statements and, if you have them, your latest financial statements and SARS assessment before you apply, so a lender can decide quickly. Our page on unsecured loans in South Africa lists registered lenders, and the page on loans for self-employed people shows which of them consider applicants without a payslip. Four short questions narrow the list to the ones whose rules fit you.