Consumers are becoming more dependent on credit to survive
South Africans are using more credit to help make ends meet. The TransUnion Q1 2019 South Africa Industry Insights Report shows that outstanding balances across all major credit categories have increased. This is when compared to the same time a year ago.
The TransUnion South Africa Industry Insights Report (IIR) is an in-depth quarterly research report. It analyses all the country’s active credit files to provide a snapshot of how consumers are making use of and servicing their credit. It measures credit originations (new accounts opened), balances (outstanding total and average lending balances) and delinquencies (accounts in payment arrears) across secured (e.g., home and vehicle loans) and unsecured (credit cards and bank and non-bank loans) credit.
South Africans’ credit card balances, bank, and non-bank personal loans (which gets used to fund household expenses) and smaller ticket purchases, grew – by 6.6%, 7.2% and 11.4%. Also, more credit card accounts, and bank and non-bank personal loans were opened in the last year. These increased borrowing levels are likely to be the current challenging economic conditions. Consumers are relying more on credit to supplement their incomes to meet their day-to-day financial obligations.
The growth in outstanding balances and new loans across secured credit products like home finance and vehicle purchases was exceptionally low - under 3% compared to last year. These numbers may be a sign that consumers are deferring these big-ticket purchases in the face of economic uncertainty.
Delinquencies (accounts in payment arrears) on secured products like home and vehicle loans rose for the third consecutive quarter. Despite this, the delinquency rates for secured products (home & vehicle loans) tend to be far lower than those of unsecured products like personal loans and credit cards. Particularly given that lenders focus much of their originations on lower-risk consumers. Even so, the steady rise in delinquencies for secured products over the past year indicates that even consumers in the lower-risk credit tiers are not immune to the current economic challenges.
Credit cards bucked the delinquency trend, with serious non-payment rates improving year-on-year in Q1, dropping. This may be due to consumers protecting their credit cards in the face of economic uncertainty, to maintain access to their most liquid form of credit.
The size of the economy shrinking caught many by surprise, but the weaknesses in other areas like unemployment and wage growth, have been putting pressure on consumers’ personal finances for some time. Inflation is still well above average wage growth. Real household income continues to fall. In these tough economic times, credit can be a critical lifeline for consumers who may be struggling with their expenses. It’s important for lenders to continue to make credit available to consumers who may need it. It is important that they are making prudent lending decisions, helping save consumers from finding themselves over-indebted. But it is also important for consumers to honor payment commitments to creditors, so they have access to much-needed credit during tough times.
Article published by TransUnion
Other Articles worth reading