SECOND LEAD
Near-prime loans on the rise Designed for those with less-than-perfect credit credentials, near-prime lending fills a growing need. BY ERIC FRYKBERG
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ractically everyone has to borrow money at some stage in their lives. For some, however, a health scare, relationship breakup or business failing can make them an unwelcome presence in the bank manager’s office. Even a few missed bill payments due to absent-mindedness can incur a bank manager's lingering frown, long after the bill-payer has reformed and made a point of paying attention to daily financial obligations.
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‘We think the nearprime segment will grow massively’ Sue Griffiths Add to that the recently introduced Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA), which makes it harder for people to get a home loan from a mainstream lender: deep dives into
applicants’ expenses have seen loans declined, because too much was spent on coffees or going to the gym. The result of it all? A section of society which fails to meet the stringent requirements for a regular loan.
For clients with less-than-perfect credit credentials The non-bank sector has long recognised that there’s a market in lending money to these people, and it set out to serve
