Okay I’m sure you’ve heard someone say, “Stop fishing for information!” right? Phishing similar in a way, in that the scammer tries certain things to get you the unsuspecting consumer to give him OR her your details e.g. your online banking username & password.
Once they have this information, expect to receive a whole lotta SMS’s from your bank as your bank balance diminishes by the second.
Now there is a whole lot that can be written to explain phishing scams in detail but this video does a much better job on video.
video source: Common Craft
Do post your thoughts on phishing by commenting below.
Back in 2006, the Bank Enquiry Panel was established by the Competition Commission to look into bank fees / charges and give some recommendations. You should be pleased to hear / read that the tedious work has now been completed and the report is out, read Statement on Banking Enquiry Report by the Competition Commission.
If you, like me, have been wondering what this is all about and what sort of recommendation they’ll come up with you might want to read the Executive Overview released by the Competition Commission. OR you could read the rest of this article for points I found interesting while reading.
What is the Banking Enquiry about?
The important thing to note about the enquiry is that it is meant to initiate and inform a debate promoting accessible, affordable and good quality banking services.
The report will provide us with a number of proposals, which government is committed to consider when drafting policy for the competition commission as a response.
The Banking Enquiry report is intended to advise the Competition Commissioner on competition issues in retail banking in South Africa.
Right, now let’s look at some of the interesting recommendations shall we?
Debit Orders
A max of R5 per dishonoured item like bounced debit-orders. However if a bank incurs additional expenses because of your defaulting can close your account and/or sue you for the damages. See recommendation no. 1.
Consumers should be allowed to cancel any direct debit instruction at any time by phone, internet, or over the counter at a branch (subject to written confirmation by the customer where necessary). But you would still need to pay those debtors! See recommendation no. 2.
ATM Charges
The owner of the ATM you withdraw from must set their own charge for dispensing he cash. It is called “direct charging model”, woooo! See recommendation no. 3.
In such a case where you withdraw from a different ATM other than your bank. Your bank will have to charge you separately and directly for an “off-us” service charge. See recommendation no. 4.
Oh banks shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate and charge other banks’ customers more for the cash despising service. See recommendation no. 5.
Switching made easy!
There should be a centralised banking fee calculator service. You would be able to input your requirements once and get an objective indication of which bank can help you and the charges. This will ease comparative shopping indeed! See recommendation no. 23.
Banks should also be allowed to advertise comparing their offering, including price, to competitors’. See recommendation no. 24.
When you switch accounts, your bank should provide the new bank with information on standing orders and direct debits within a specified period of time of receiving the request to do so. Furthermore your bank should specify how the balance on the account, standing orders and direct debits, net of any charges and interest but including any interest due, will be transferred from the old bank directly to the new bank, and how and when the account with the old bank will be closed. See recommendation no. 26.
The bane of our lives, FICA!
The national treasury should investigating establishment of a central FICA hub. This would help us all and spare us the duplication that goes on. See recommendation no. 27.
What’s Next?
The Commissioner will now consider the report and consult with various stakeholders and government departments before making decisions regarding any further action arising from the report.
An interesting development, the Bankers Association of South Africa, Consumer Credit Association, Furniture Trading Association and the Micro Finance South Africa are planning to register a company that will assist consumers who cannot meet their financial obligations to restructure their debt.
It would seem the main players in credit have realized that consumers do need assistance, but not only that. I would assume the spinoff is that consumers will continue to pay their restructured debts which means lesser debts to write off and a degree of legal cost saving in summons and debt collection initiatives.
In a recent comment post a reader posed some questions which I thought would benefit more readers as an article. So here goes…
Q) What do credit grantors use credit bureau reports for when you apply for credit?
A) When you apply for credit, the credit grantor uses your credit report to verify your identity as well as to assess their risk.
Q) What information is supplied to the credit bureau?
A) when ever an inquiry is made on your credit report a reason for enquiry is supplied by the credit grantor, the credit bureau also records that an enquiry was made and the credit provider in question. This information is shown on your credit report under the enquiry history section.
Q) Are all inquiries recorded by credit bureaus?
A) Not all enquiries are recorded by credit bureaus. Inquiries for forensic purposes are hidden, naturally.
While it does feel great this time of the year. With so much buzz around with everyone running around to get Christmas gifts, finalise holiday preparations or stock up to entertain and feed visitors. I feel we should remember our situation here in South Africa with regards to over indebtedness, overspending, savings (or lack there of) and the fact that we recently had interests go up by another half a percent just last week.
So what I think we should do is first think of our January 2008 commitments before we spend the little we have. Ensure we have enough money to meet those much needed expenses like school fees, groceries, etc. Then let us think about the saving.
Let us look at saving in two ways. (1) Being how much of that bonus you can invest and (2) being actually paying more than you need to for your current debt since you would be saving on interest. This of the second as a future saving or a cash flow management strategy since you may even reduce your monthly payments in some cases.
And worse if you do not have cash try not to give into those “buy now pay later” schemes if you can. Remember a bargain is no bargain if you do not have the money for it, even worse when you won’t be able to meet the repayments next year.
It is always interesting to hear the rationale of people for buying cars as to why they buy the car they buy and so forth. While this ultimately boils down to the car you want, like and identify with at that point in time, I would like to bring some perspective to the whole thing. This I think is helpful when one gets over the impulse and actually gets to the nitty grittys of owning the car. Click here to continue reading ‘Buying a car? Do some research (A look at Kinsey’s report).’
Many of us come to the shock of our lives at some point when we receive the news that “YOU HAVE BEEN BLACKLISTED”, while trying to apply for credit, buying that house or the car.
People seem to be under the notion that “if I skip a payment I’m automatically in the dwang…”
No, you should not get blacklisted for paying late, depending on how late your payments came in and depending on your definition of blacklisting that is.
When you pay on time, late or skip a payment, your credit grantor will report this to a credit bureau. Click here to continue reading ‘Can I get blacklisted for paying late?’
The long negotiated credit amnesty is coming to an end! You may have seen the campaigns by the National Credit Regulator and the Credit Information Ombud on TV or heard on radio stations. This is a call to South African consumers who may have adverse information, to take advantage of this once off opportunity to clean your slate.
To read more about the credit information amnesty click here and find out if you qualify.
P.S. Be patient when contacting the credit bureaus as they are currently being flooded with calls as consumers race against time!
First of all, blacklist is old school; the preferred term these days is adverse information. I am blacklisted = I have adverse information on my credit report. This is important and perhaps we can dedicate an article to the blacklisting terminology another day.
Back to the subject at hand… The window is closing in soon, take advantage of the “credit bureau amnesty” that has been put together specially for you. You have until September 2007 to have certain information on your credit report removed in a less costly fashion. This does not necessarily mean you do not have to pay your debts! Yes I love freebies too… Click here to continue reading ‘Blacklisted? 16 days to go to recover your bad credit quickly’
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