I was advised by somebody who recently attended a human resources seminar on remuneration that it was mooted at the seminar that the introduction of the National Credit Act would result in increased salaries for credit managers and other credit control staff.
While there are a number of factors which could affect salaries in credit management, the thinking was that with companies having to ensure that they comply with the National Credit Act, the task of credit management has become a more specialised field and that more companies would separate out …

“The conventional definition of management is getting work done through people, but real management is developing people through work.”
- Agha Hasan Abed

Business Report reporter Ethel Hazelhurst:
“Householders will be under further repayment pressure after a 50 basis point rise in the rate at which the Reserve Bank lends to the private sector to 10 percent – a move that will push prime and mortgage rates to 13.5 percent.
This means borrowers will be paying 3 percentage points more on credit than they were when the series of rate hikes started in June last year.
Monthly repayments on a R500 000 mortgage loan over 20 years have risen more than R1 000 to R6 036 …

There is an interesting article on IOL by Jani Meyer interviewing a number of important role players on the early effects of the NCA.
“The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa said the implementation of the new Act caused “broad consternation” in the motor industry as it impacted on sales of new and pre-owned vehicles. The association’s new passenger car sales figures for June dropped by 19 percent to 30 839, compared with 2006.
Brian Riley, chief executive officer of WesBank, said increases in prime lending rates and fuel prices …

The common law in duplum rule holds that “interest stops running when the unpaid interest equals the outstanding capital.”
Confirmation that this ancient Roman doctrine was part of our law was eventually settled in the case of LTA Construction Bpk v Administrateur, Transvaal 1992 (1) SA 473 (A).
The NCA enacts the in duplum rule into legislation in Section 103(5) but the NCA takes the definition further than the common law definition of the in duplum rule, specifying that not only interest stops running when the unpaid interest equals the outstanding …

Peter Drucker was one of the fathers of modern management and business thinking, his introduction of concepts such as the knowledge worker and the knowledge age still effect our business thinking today as much as when he first came to prominence over 60 years ago.
A nice summary of some of his thoughts on effective executives taken from his book “The Effective Executive” appears over on the blog The Practice of Leadership.

The laws and landscape of credit management have changed a great deal in the last year, particularly with the introduction of the National Credit Act. Is your credit department up to date with the law and requirements of credit management?
The seminar will be an overview for Commercial Creditors presented by Bentley Credit Control (Pty) Ltd.
This is a one day seminar in Durban to be held on the 24th August 2007 and Cape Town on the 21st September 2007, at 8.30am for 9am. It is aimed at commercial creditors (businesses who …

Business Report’s Tonny Mafu:
“Longer repayment periods on unsecured personal loans had enhanced the affordability of debt for consumers, FirstRand’s chief executive said last week.
In recent years, banks have increased the time over which consumers can repay their debt. A survey by Business Report has shown that some banks were issuing 72-month unsecured loans. While at face value, the instalment may seem lower for a loan with a longer term, the total debt increases significantly.
The repayment eventually represents a sizeable transfer of wealth to the lender.
But FirstRand chief executive Sizwe Nxasana …

A Business Report article by Roy Cokayne:
“Pretoria – New car sales slumped last month by almost 14 percent to 32 199 units from the 37 366 units sold in July last year as consumers were hit by recent interest rate hikes, new vehicle price rises and the introduction of the National Credit Act (NCA).
However, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa said yesterday light, medium and commercial vehicle sales were supported by the extensive infrastructure investment programme and sales remained strong.”
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I found an interesting article on the Canadian website creditguru.com taken from an article by Puru Grover the Manager, Business Education: Dun & Bradstreet addressed specifically to franchisees but which has important points which are universally applicable.
“Credit is temporary capital and the objective of credit is to lend with the purpose of increasing profits and sales. A sound credit policy in business is the blue print to managing by measurement and benchmarks. The question then arises is ‘What is a Credit Policy and how does one write a Credit …