When life brings extra or unexpected expenses many grant recipients find themselves needing a little extra help. But deciding where to borrow money isn’t always easy, and it’s important to choose a lender that has your best interests at heart.
While informal lenders like mashonisas in your area may be convenient, borrowing money from people and businesses that are not regulated by laws can create big problems for borrowers. Many of these informal lenders charge very high interest rates and expect borrowers to repay their loans quickly, which can leave them with no money for the rest of the month.
Often, these lenders also want people to provide collateral (something of value that you give to the lender until you have paid back the loan), or hand over their bank cards and PINs to make sure that they get their money back. This can leave people vulnerable to fraud and unauthorised withdrawals from their accounts.
Credit laws and affordability assessments are applied for your protection.
“Without protection by credit laws, borrowers from informal lenders often feel trapped, with little control over their finances,” says Kenosi Rakosa, Head of Credit Lending at EasyPay Everywhere. “Paying back these loans can be challenging, and this often leads to long-term financial difficulties, making it hard to break free from debt.”
For all these reasons, Rakosa highlights how important it is to borrow money from a formal and regulated lender like EasyPay Loans. She highlights a number of benefits of doing so, including:
- A choice of loans to suit your needs – Ensuring that customers can borrow exactly what they need in line with what they can afford. For example, EasyPay Loans offers a range of solutions:
- A three-month loan up to R1 000, immediately accessible and can be used to pay for food or household items, school supplies, and emergency or travel expenses.
- A short-term loan up to R2 000 to help buy clothes, food or household items, pay schools fees, or cover higher expenses over the holidays.
- A new medium-term loan of R4 000 for bigger expenses like home renovations, repairs or appliances, educational costs, travel or family emergencies.
- Fair interest rates – EasyPay Loans charges no interest on smaller loans up to R2 000 and 12% per annum interest rate for its new R4 000 loan, making safe borrowing more affordable.
- Flexible repayment terms – With repayment periods ranging from one month to nine months, EasyPay Loans customers avoid the financial strain of having to pay back big amounts in one go.
- No collateral needed – EasyPay Loans does not require borrowers to hand over personal items or bank cards to secure their loan, ensuring customers keep full control over their finances.
- Simple application process – Customers can apply for an EasyPay Loan on their phone by texting 47027 or typing in the USSD code *120*3737# and following the prompts. They can also call an EasyPay Everywhere voice branch on 0801 11 18 80, or visit any EasyPay Everywhere branch to complete their application.
“Choosing a regulated lender like EasyPay Loans ensures that you are protected as a borrower,” Rakosa explains, “and that means there is no risk of the challenges of informal lending, like high costs and interest rates, short repayment times and risk of losing personal assets.”
“At EasyPay Everywhere, our goal is to give grant recipients easy access to safe and affordable financial solutions,” says Rakosa. “We understand the challenges our customers face, and we are committed to offering loans that meet their needs without putting them or their money at risk or adding to their financial burden – so that they can build a more secure and resilient financial future.”