Commenting on the report just released, Nomsa Motshegare, acting CEO of the National Credit Regulator (NCR), said that the report suggested the need for caution. Although seasonal factors may be contributing to overall credit performance, the NCR is mindful of the current trends and activity levels reflected in the statistics for this reporting quarter. This will be closely monitored to assess whether the increases evident in impaired performance categories is likely to prove consistent.
The number of accounts increased from 66.03 million in the previous quarter to 67.53 million, an increase of 2.3%. The number of impaired accounts increased by 366 000 to 16.91 million, from 16.54 million in the previous quarter.
285.95 million enquiries were made on consumer credit records, an increase of 10.7% quarter-on-quarter and 61.9% year-on-year. Enquiries initiated by consumers accounted for 14.88 million of all the enquiries, an increase of 11.4% quarter-on-quarter and 27.5% year-on-year. Of the total enquiries made on consumer records, enquiries from banks and other financial institutions accounted for 77.2%, enquiries from retailers accounted for 5.1% and enquiries from telecommunication providers accounted for 7.9%. Banks and other financial institutions' enquiries increased by 14.6% from the previous quarter, retailers increased by 8.4% and telecommunication providers decreased by 5.5%.
The number of credit reports issued to consumers increased to 103,403. Of the total credit reports issued, 81.8% (84,561) were issued without charge, and the remaining 18.2% (18,842) were issued with charge.
There were 8 826 disputes lodged on information held on consumer credit records for the quarter ended December 2011, which was an increase of 24.8% quarter-on-quarter and a decrease of 40.5% year-on-year.
