SA Consumers: Do We Compare or Pay?

At the end of January, the South African Reserve Bank announced a 10.25% increase in the prime lending rate, the amount consumers are charged by the banks when borrowing money. Higher interest rates and debt servicing costs lead to added financial pressure for the average consumer. To top it off, South Africa is experiencing the worst drought in more than 30 years, which means higher food prices. For many, these factors, combined with other necessary daily expenses, result in consumers having to look elsewhere for financial aid. But at what cost?

 

“South Africans are feeling the pinch and end up applying for personal loans to make ends meet,” says Derek Wilson, Head of Hippo.co.za, South Africa’s leading online insurance and financial services comparison website. “The reality is that consumers often sign off on the first loan that gets approved, where they could have been paying less if they had shopped around first.”

 

Below are some things you might want to consider when applying for a Personal Loan from any registered financial institution:

 

  1. Stay on top of the total amount that you owe. Make sure you get your monthly statements, and keep track of all payments made to and received by the loan institution.
  2. Investigate all the options first and then choose wisely. Opt for a payment plan that best meets your financial needs and capacity.
  3. Fast is good. The faster you can repay your loan, the better. Investigate which loan option will give you the least interest to repay, over a shorter repayment period.
  4. Don’t skip payments. If you’ve got extra cash to spare, pay it into your loan as this will allow you to pay off your debt sooner
  5. Do your homework before signing on the dotted line. There are many financial institutions in South Africa who provide personal loans. Choose wisely whom you want to entrust with your future, and with your money.

 

“Just like you simply cannot afford unexpected price hikes year upon year, you cannot afford not to compare before you buy just about anything,” concludes Derek. “In addition to Car Insurance, Life Insurance, Travel Insurance and much more, Hippo.co.za now also offers an online comparison service for Personal Loans from a range of providers, which is great news for individuals who are on the lookout for the best Personal Loan deal to suit their individual needs.”

 

Simply go to https://www.hippo.co.za/personal-loans/, complete a few questions online and within minutes you will have real-time results indicating the interest rate as well as the monthly repayment amount on your potential loan.

 

Established in 2007, Hippo.co.za is South Africa’s leading comparison website that helps consumers save money by comparing a range of South African providers across financial products such as Car Insurance, Home Insurance, Life Insurance, Medical and more. Hippo.co.za is free to use and saves consumers the time and hassle of shopping around for the best deal since the Hippo.co.za website instantly retrieves real-time quotes from the different providers using the latest Internet technology. One in two people could save hundreds of Rands per month*** on their Car Insurance alone by using Hippo.co.za to compare before they buy or switch to a new provider.

 

Hippo.co.za makes money by simply charging its partners a fee when a customer chooses to find out more about their products. The results consumers see, and the order in which they are presented, are in no way influenced by the fee Hippo.co.za charges its partners or any other factors other than the price of the product being compared. 

 

For more information, visit us on www.hippo.co.za, connect with Hippo.co.za on LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/company/hippo-comparative-services-pty-ltd/, like us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/HippoSA, and follow us on Twitter @Hippo_co_za and YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/user/hippocompare.

Hippo Comparative Services (Pty) Ltd is an authorised financial services provider (FSP number: 16357).

Terms and Conditions apply.

 

Issued By:   

Engage Joe Public

Sharney Nel

Public Relations Cluster Head

Tel: +27 10 591 7770

E-mail: [email protected]

Twitter: @SheyNel7


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