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Your credit profile

What a bureau holds about you decides more of the outcome than any comparison table will. These pages cover what is actually in that record, how long each entry stays, what a decline does and does not mean, and the free report you are entitled to every year.

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Loans with bad credit in South AfricaBorrowing with an impaired credit recordBlacklisted in South Africa: what it really meansUnderstanding and dealing with being “blacklisted”Getting a loan with no credit historyBorrowing with a thin or empty credit fileDeclined for a loan: what to do nextUnderstanding and recovering from a declineLoans while under debt reviewCredit options while under debt reviewBorrowing with a judgment on your recordBorrowing with a court judgment listedDefaults and arrears on your credit recordUnderstanding arrears and default listingsHow your credit score works in South AfricaUnderstanding the South African credit scoreHow to improve your credit scorePractical steps to improve a credit recordFixing an error on your credit reportDisputing an incorrect credit bureau listingWhen you already have several loansApplying for credit while holding other loansPrescribed debt in South AfricaOld debt and prescription

Read your own record before you apply anywhere

You are entitled to one free credit report a year from each registered bureau. Reading it first turns a guess into a fact: you find out whether the problem is a default you had forgotten, an account you closed that was never marked closed, or simply too little history to score at all — and those three have completely different answers.

Errors happen and they are fixable. A bureau must investigate a disputed entry, and an entry that cannot be substantiated must be removed. That process costs nothing, which is worth knowing before paying anyone who offers to clear your name for a fee.

Nobody can lawfully remove an accurate listing

A correct default stays for its statutory period and no service can delete it early. Anyone promising otherwise for a fee is selling something that cannot be delivered. A dispute over an inaccurate entry is a different matter — that is your right, and it is free.

Related

Getting your free credit reportChecking a lender, and your rightsTypes of short-term loanGuides

Sources and last checked

Page last checked 10 August 2026. Statutory caps and lender terms change — confirm anything you intend to rely on with the provider or the National Credit Regulator. Found something wrong? Tell us and we will correct it.