‘Amnesty’ sparks interest in credit reports

One of the positive spin-offs of the credit information “amnesty” is that it has generated awareness among consumers that they have credit reports, and thousands have made the effort to access their reports – many for the first time, Credit Ombud Manie van Schalkwyk says.

Since the implementation on April 1 of the Removal of Adverse Consumer Credit Information Project – loosely referred to as the credit information “amnesty” – credit bureaus have been inundated with calls from consumers and visits to their websites. There was also an average increase of 41 percent in the number of credit reports issued in April, compared with previous months, Van Schalkwyk says.

“Our office dealt with a 47-percent increase in calls in the four weeks after the commencement of the removal exercise, with callers mostly wanting to access their credit reports or wanting to know if they qualify for the amnesty,” the ombud says.

Since April 1, two credit bureaus have removed a combined total of about 40 235 paid-up judgments and more than 14.5 million adverse records from consumers’ profiles. The number of records must not be confused with the number of consumers.

There are 21 million credit-active consumers in South Africa – all of whom are entitled to a free credit report from each of the registered credit bureaus once a year. But only 617 516 credit reports were issued to consumers last year, according to the National Credit Regular. Last quarter, 146 657 credit reports were issued to consumers.

Enquiries from consumers have revealed that consumers don’t understand what information is kept on their reports, Van Schalkwyk says.

Credit reports usually comprise six major sections. The table on the right, compiled by the ombud, shows the type of information you will find on your report and how it is affected by the Removal of Adverse Consumer Credit Information exercise.