The Challenge:
South Africa’s Financial Services Act requires that retailers perform credit checks on consumers before entering into hire purchase agreements. This often requires the filing of a paper-based application, the consumer’s physical presence at the retailer and can be an embarrassing for the consumer should their application be rejected. To simply the process Transunion, South Africa’s leading credit bureau, wanted offer consumers a way to perform their own personal credit checks – before approaching a retailer.
The Solutions:
Grapevine built an SMS, MOBI & USSD-based solution, integrated with Transunion’s back office systems. Consumers simply type their South African ID number into the system, which gives an instant credit rating that can be shown to a retailer as proof of credit-worthiness.
The Result:
A simpler process for the retailer at no cost and happy consumers who no longer have to risk the potential embarresment of being denied credit at the shop as well as knowing their credit limit in advance.
