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Industry Event

After the recent DCASA Conference various regional members meetings have been held to update members on what happened at the annual conference.

Regional Meetings

Recently, the Debt Counsellors Association of South Africa (DCASA) hosted its annual conference in Gauteng.

Many members travelled across the country to attend, but not all obviously. Hundreds of Debt Counsellors attended this year’s event which was held in August 2023.

Due to the costs involved many members are simply unable to attend in person though they would like to.

This is one of the reasons why DCASA is hosting regional meetings in the various provinces to provide a summary of the event and some of the announcements and updates given during the conference.

The meetings also provide local members the chance to engage with meeting sponsors such as ONE and Hyphen PDA or Consumer Friend and to also network with others who can offer advice, connections and insights.

 

Conference Highlights

A video of highlights from the annual conference was shared with members including some of the fun and games that followed the close of the day.

Members were also updated with information on who the association has been engaging with (like Imas, Capitec Bank, ABSA and Standard Bank) and how those meetings turned out.

DCASA is also working with MFSA to provide a training webinar for members about how to handle accounts that get bought or handed over (and how to account for debt review for those who have little exposure).

Some companies are producing “fake” or even blank clearance certificates for consumers who have not paid off their debt. This is illegal and DCASA is helping pursue legal action in such cases as it brings the industry into disrepute and confuses consumers who need genuine help.

DCASA has also had success engaging with the NCR on the topic of removing ID numbers from annual NCR registration certificates due to PoPI Act considerations (so we may see a change next year). 

The DCASA AGM will be held on the 7th of November.

CIF & Industry Topics

A presentation was done by the local DCASA representative that highlighted some of the topics covered such as the update on the Credit Industry Forum (CIF) and the various sub committees.

For example, the NCR’s CIF are currently meeting to discuss ADRAs and a proposed set of guidelines. 

The CIF are also meeting to discuss some suggestions that the NCR have about how to change the fee structure for DCs (particularly the fees for restructuring and another attempt to regulate the legal fraternities fees (which is bound to meet massive resistance since they have no jurisdiction). 

Also discussed was efforts being made to change BASA’s DCRS rules engine to be able to handle new possible fees and massive loans that are now being made available to consumers.

CIF also hope to soon publish some guidelines from the NCR defining exactly when a person is over indebted and what that may mean regarding applications sent to the NCT. This may tie in with a slight change to Status C on the NCR’s Debt Help System.

Presentations

The regional meetings also presents various industry suppliers the chance to present or update members on developments.

At some meetings, members got to discuss the topic of Credit Life replacements with presentations from suppliers like ONE who specialise in helping consumers under debt review. Such insurance cover can help consumers who face sudden job loss, disability or even assist family in the case of death.

ONE say they suggest only replacing credit life where their is a clear benefit or saving to the consumer. With their affordable rates it is often possible to help the consumer allocate more funds to their debt review or budget needs.

Note: They are part of a massive company part owned by OM and under written by OMART, that can provide all sorts of insurance policies for all sorts of needs.

There were also presentations by PDAs, these are registered companies who handle the money side of debt review for consumers such as Hyphen PDA.

An amazing stat was shared that R1.2 Billion is distributed each month in debt review via the 4 NCR registered Payment Distribution Agents.

‘R1.2 Billion is distributed each month in debt review via the 4 NCR registered Payment Distribution Agents’

Hyphen has a small specialised team with over 300 years combined industry expertise. They highlighted that payments disputes and the resultant cost and losses to the PDAs is still a major problem they are concerned about.

Bitech Technology was on hand at one regional meeting to discuss the various features of their Simplicity system (which is anything but simple in reality). They discussed existing and upcoming features and how the system can be tweaked to match each DCs needs. At one regional meeting a Debt Counsellor member got up and gave a list of their favourite features on the system, just backing up what had already been said.

Bitech say they focus on ease of use for Debt Counsellors and reliable efficiency. They also teased the new whatsapp feature coming.

Some members were also updated on the upcoming Debt Review Awards which will air on YouTube on the 20th of October 2023.

Members were shown how they can tune in on the day and what to expect. If you would like more info head over to www.debtreviewawards.co.za

Note: There will be a live stream on Friday 20th October 2023, from noon till 2pm which is industry specific and suitable for senior team members and then the Awards event will be live streamed from 2pm onwards till just after 3:30pm before everyone heads home for the day. All are invited to watch the event live.

Members then got to enjoy some time chatting together and having a snack before they headed back to the office. Many people spent time discussing challenges they face with various credit providers and new policies or changes to their processes. 

Many Debt Counsellors expressed their concern over Capitec Bank and how new policies are forcing more matters than ever to go the legal route. This creates more costs for clients. Others express how they were concerned that Capitec Bank seemed to be encouraging people to leave debt review and make arrangements directly with them when this is not possible once debt review has commenced. Changes with accounts now being handled by IDA was also a hot topic at the gatherings.

Those Debt Counsellors with more experience were able to advice newer members on how best to deal with some of these situations.

Other regional meetings were held at offices of credit providers (such as at Consumer Friend in KZN) which allowed members to address any concerns they have directly with the credit provider.

These local events ensure that though some members are unable to travel they still get the benefit of the presentations and effort put into the annual members conference.

 

For more info about DCASA you can head to their website at www.dcasa.co.za