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Industry News

For some time, there have been 4 NCR registered Payment Distribution Agents (PDAs) in South Africa.

Introduced by the National Credit Act they handle the money side of debt review for consumers in the process who want (and are obligatory for payments to Debt Counsellors).

Recently, the newest and smallest of the 4, called CollectNet PDA ran into trouble with the National Credit Regulator and this has ultimately resulted in them being shut down. Few consumers’ matters will be affected in any way and no money has been lost or anything like that. The whole thing has more to do with regulatory obligations etc.

This just goes to show how closely the NCR keep an eye on people’s money and how high a standard is set for handling funds for those in debt review.

It also highlights how difficult it is for PDAs to manage to run efficiently and effectively with the reduced fees they are now allowed. Such fees don’t even have an annual escalation to offset inflation. It is clear that with limited funds, levels of service will inevitably eventually drop. Hopefully we will see a full review of these fees in the near future.