Minor decline in consumer credit standing
Credit bureaus create consumer credit profiles based on credit information received from credit providers, courts and utility service providers. The National Credit Regulator (NCR) regulates and monitors registered credit bureaus and the quality of their data.
Nomsa Motshegare, Acting CEO of the National Credit Regulator, said today that the credit bureau statistics reported for the quarter ended December 2010 indicate a minor decline in consumer credit standing.
As at the end of December 2010, credit bureaus had records for 18.51 million credit-active consumers:
Of the 18.51 million credit-active consumers, 53.5% (9.90m) were classified as in good standing.
The number of consumers with impaired records increased to 8.61m this reporting quarter. This indicates a deterioration in the credit records of 120 000 (0.2%) consumers quarter-on-quarter and 426 000 (1.2%) year-on-year.
In terms of accounts, the number of impaired accounts decreased by 189 000, to 16.36 million. This is a decrease of 0.2% over the previous quarter.
A total of 176.65 million enquiries were made on consumer credit records, a decrease of 6.9% quarter-on-quarter and an increase of 20.3% year-on-year. Enquiries initiated by consumers accounted for 11.68 million of all enquiries, an increase of 9.6% quarter-on-quarter and 12.8% year-on-year. Of the total enquiries made on consumer records, enquiries from banks and other financial institutions accounted for 54.2%, enquiries from retailers accounted for 14.9% and enquiries from telecommunications providers accounted for 14.8%. Banks and other financial institutions’ enquiries increased by 25.3% from the previous quarter, retailers decreased by 54.7% and telecommunication providers decreased by 4.3%, compared to the last quarter.
The number of credit reports issued to consumers increased to 79,635. Of the total credit reports issued, 82.9% (66,034) were issued without charge, and the remaining 17.1% (13,601) were issued with charge.
There were 14,836 disputes lodged on information held on consumer credit records for the quarter ended December 2010, which was a decrease of 34.3% quarter-on-quarter and an increase of 40.3% year-on-year.
