The National Credit Act, Act 34 of 2005 ("the NCA")

The NCA became fully operational in South Africa on 1 June 2007.

The NCA replaces the Usury Act, 73 of 1968, the Credit Agreements Act, Act 75 of 1980 and the Integration of Usury Laws Act, 57 of 1996, which was the primary legislation governing the granting of credit within the financial services industry since 1968.

In essence, the NCA is designed to promote a fair and non-discriminatory marketplace in South Africa. As such, Blue Key Consult fully supports the NCA and is doing everything in its power to ensure that the manner in which we assist consumers always upholds the intentions and requirements of the legislation, while still meeting the varied debt counseling requirements of all its clients in a responsible manner.

The NCA in brief
The main purposes of the National Credit Act can be summarised as follows:

• To promote a fair, competitive, accessible, equitable and sustainable credit market.

• To educate consumers so that they are empowered to make informed choices, borrow responsibly and within their means.

• To enforce affordability assessments within the lending process to prevent reckless lending and/or borrowing.

• To protect consumers who feel they have been unfairly treated in a credit agreement by giving them access to a National Credit Regulator and the National Consumer Tribunal.

• To provide a debt counseling process for consumers who are not able to find a solution for their inability to repay their debts, in conjunction with their credit providers.