Will the 4 million credit profiles you can no longer see, work for you?

The new regulations to the National Credit Act will keep companies in the dark about certain information pertaining to employee applicants and potential vendors.

 

This is according to Jenny Reid, CEO of iFacts, a company that takes care of corporate security and seeks to remove people risk in business through pre-employment screening, background checks, and individual risk assessments.

 

Background to the changes

In late February, Dr Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry, gave notice of new regulations to the National Credit Act, 2005. The change came into effect 1 April 2014 and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has given Credit Bureaus in South Africa approximately two months to remove adverse consumer credit information from, and information relating to paid-up judgements. In other words, 6.5 million status updates relating to 4.2 million credit profiles will soon be deleted.

 

Disappearing histories

This means that negative descriptions—such as slow payer, delinquent, default or non-contactable—will no longer be allowed. The bureau will also not be allowed to give out enforcement action indicators, such as legal action, written off, repossessed or overdue.