At a Trade and Industry Portfolio Committee meeting held last Wednesday 27 February 2013, the banking sector rejected the proposed credit amnesty for certain indebted people.  The department proposed expunging poor credit records of people earning less than R15 000 a month and who have debts of less than R10 000, on the basis that it would stimulate economic growth and job creation.
The banking sector rejected the proposal on the basis that such an amnesty could create risk in lending and would have little positive impact on economic growth and job creation.
The …

 
Mario Oriano-Ambrosini MP , fought all the way to the Constitutional Court for his right to bring a Private Member’s Bill – the National Credit Act Amendment Bill. This in itself was an important development in the administrative law of the country.
Unfortunately the bill that was so hard fought for itself leaves a lot to be desired.
The Bill was ultimately rejected by parliament and Brett Bentley submissions to parliament on the bill were:
“It is respectfully submitted that the proposed changes to the National Credit Act No 34 of 2007 (“the Act) contained in the National …

Linda Ensor in Business Day Live reported on the future:
“Amendments to the National Credit Act were in the pipeline to streamline the process of debt review and counselling and to address issues raised in a number of court judgments, Parliament’s trade and industry committee heard last week.
The amendments flow from a holistic review of consumer credit policy undertaken by the University of Pretoria and will be submitted to Parliament during the 2013 -14 financial year.
In the meantime, Inkatha Freedom Party MP Mario Oriani-Ambrosini introduced a private member’s bill which proposes …

This is an article by Brett Bentley , which appeared in the August 2012 edition of the SA Attorneys Journal – De Rebus.
It has been over five years since the full implementation of the well-intentioned National Credit Act 34 of 2005 (NCA). However, despite its good intentions, some debtors may feel frustrated by the outcome after pursuing debt relief in terms of the provisions of ss 86 to 88 of the Act.
For the past five years the National Credit Regulator (NCR) has tried – to borrow from an old proverb – …

 
Bentley Credit Control this month launched a new office in Centurion, Gauteng to better service its existing and prospective clients in South Africa’s commercial heartland, Gauteng.
2012 is the year in which Bentley Credit Control continues its growth and development, with the new office in Centurion being one of many new and exciting developments for the company.
Brett Bentley, CEO of Bentley Credit Control, said:
“The growth of existing business in Gauteng, coupled with our goals for improved operational performance and new opportunities in the region, has resulted in our new premises in …

In an article from Fin24.com:
“A survey has found that many South African fail to realise the importance of knowing their credit score, with almost three quarters of those polled saying they did not know their credit score.
The poll conducted by Just Money, an online guide to money, revealed almost three quarters (73%) of people did not know what their credit score was. The flash poll also revealed that only 18% knew their credit score, while 9% didn’t know what a credit score referred to.
“Knowing your credit record is vital, as …

 
OnGuard, the international commercial credit management software company and Bentley Credit Control, the South African Credit Management company, have announced a start up partnership to market and sell OnGuard’s award-winning software in South Africa.OnGuard, with its slogan “A decent way of doing business”, offers world class credit management solutions to organisations trading in the business to business sector.Their OnGuard C³ is a suite of Credit, Collections and Complaints management software designed specifically to help your organisation reduce the cost of working capital whilst maximising your customer intimacy.
Brett Bentley, CEO of …

With the continuing effects of the economic downturn being felt by businesses, the importance of good credit management has been magnified and all companies’ credit management policies need to be reviewed and upgraded in order to avoid your company becoming a statistic of the poor economy. In addition credit management is also being impacted by the new legislation such as the National Credit Act, the Consumer Protection Act and the new Companies Act.
 
This is a half day seminar in Durban on the 18th May 2012 aimed at commercial creditors (businesses who …

Fin24 reports that:
“Significant strides have been made in resolving complaints from consumers and businesses negatively affected by credit bureau information and disputes with credit providers, the credit ombudsman said on Wednesday.
Credit Ombudsman Manie van Schalkwyk said 3 550 out of 3 870 disputes were settled in 2010.
“The credit ombud ruled in favour of consumers in 69% of cases and 86% of all cases were resolved within 60 days, compared to 79.48% the previous year,” Van Schalkwyk said.
“We managed to put R700 000 back in the pockets of consumers.”
Van Schalkwyk said …

On Business Report:
“Fitch Ratings says it expects that elevated levels of consumer indebtedness may prolong the recovery of the asset quality of SA’s major banks.
The ratings agency said on Friday that high consumer indebtedness and the difficult operating environment had led to an increase in the number of consumers applying for debt review in terms of the National Credit Act’s debt review process.
Fitch estimates the value of debt review exposures of the four major banks at 21 billion rand during 2010, which accounted for between 14% and 18% of the …