How we compare loan offers

The short version

You answer a few questions. We leave out every provider whose own rules exclude someone with your answers, and show you up to three lenders and up to three loan-matching services, in one order, or only services when no lender fits. We set the order. The first offer is not necessarily the cheapest, so compare the total cost on each provider’s quote before you sign.

What we ask, and why

How much you want to borrow and what for; how you earn your income, roughly how much, and how it is paid; which bank you use; and a few questions about you, such as your age, whether you have a South African ID, and whether you are under debt review. Providers set their lending rules on exactly these things, so these are the answers we need to tell which providers are open to you.

We do not ask for your ID number, your bank details or documents, and we do not run a credit check. Answering the questions does not put an enquiry on your credit record.

Who we cannot show offers to

If you are under 18 or do not have a South African ID, no provider we work with can lend to you, so we say so instead of showing offers. If you are under debt review, most lenders cannot lend to you either, and you may see no offers; our page on loans under debt review explains your options.

How we decide which providers fit

Each provider tells us, through its affiliate network or directly, who it will consider: the amounts and terms it offers, the kinds of employment and income it accepts, and similar rules. We also work out a rough indication from your answers — not a credit score, and not a prediction of the provider’s decision — because some providers set their rules on it. A provider is left out when its rules exclude your answers.

A provider is also left out, whatever your answers, when:

• it is not taking applications through us at the moment, or has reached a daily or monthly limit;
• you arrived from an advert and the provider’s terms do not meet that advertising platform’s rules, for example a minimum repayment period.

How we order them

Lenders and loan-matching services share one order, so a service can come before a lender; every service is marked as a loan-matching service, not a lender. We give each provider a priority, and the priority can differ for different groups of borrowers, such as government employees or self-employed people. Providers with a higher priority come first.

We also sort your answers into one of four broad groups, using your income, how it is paid, the kind of work you do, whether you have a bank account, whether you are under debt review or have missed repayments, and how the amount you want compares with your income. We never use your age or where you live for this. The order can then depend on how people in your group have done with each provider before and what that has earned us, so that the providers more likely to consider you come first. The group is not a credit score, we do not share it with providers, and it does not decide whether you get a loan: only the provider decides that, on its own checks.

When two providers are otherwise equal, the one that has earned us more per visit recently comes first. We show only one offer from each company.

Because providers pay us, what a provider pays can affect where it appears and whether it is among the offers you see. The order is not a ranking of which loan is cheapest or best for you. Every provider must show you the full cost of the loan before you sign, and our loan cost calculator shows the most a loan may legally cost, so you can check any quote. How we are paid explains the money side.

What each offer shows

Every offer shows the provider’s name and its National Credit Regulator registration number. Where the provider has given us its maximum annual interest rate and a representative example of what a loan costs, the offer shows them too. Where it has not, the offer shows no rate at all, says that the provider shows its full cost before you sign, and the page lists the legal limits on interest and fees. Loan-matching services are marked as not being lenders.

What we do not do

• We do not lend money, and we take no part in the provider’s decision.
• We do not see whether you were approved unless the provider’s network tells us.
• We never charge you, and no registered provider may ask you for an upfront fee.
• We do not sell your answers.

If something looks wrong

If an offer is out of date or a provider’s terms differ from what we show, tell us on the contact page. You can check any provider on the NCR register.