There is an old saying – “more haste – less speed.” What it refers to is doing things too quickly; so quickly in fact that you do something wrong or forget to do something and then having to go back and undo or correct your error(s). By the time you do this, it works out that it would have been faster to have taken a little more time in the first place and got it right, first time.
The same can be said if you are in urgent need of a cash injection. The knee-jerk reaction of many South Africans when they find themselves in this position is to search for an ‘instant loans’ provider such as Wonga, who can typically deposit money into your bank account within the same day of your application (if you pass their credit checks that is). Wonga is not alone here, if you any trusted, regulated lender, a truly instantaneous loan just won’t happen. The only way to get immediate cash in hand is to go to one of South Africa’s 40,000 Mashonisas.
Falling into the Mashonisa trap
Although it is something that is not recommended, over one in every one-hundred South African households go down the route of borrowing from Mashonisas. The cash is handed over immediately, but as these types of lenders are not regulated in any way, they are a law unto themselves.
You could for example suddenly find that this type of loan shark could suddenly decide to increase the rate of interest. You have nowhere to go. What is worse; if you cannot make the repayment when required, you could even find yourself on the end of a physically violent reaction. It just isn’t worth taking that sort of risk.
Not only does more haste result in less speed because in all likelihood you are no further forward in terms of getting out of debt, but you could also end up being hurt, not to mention the mental distress too.
Think before you act
As with anything in life, outcomes are generally better when things are thought through first. With money matters, creditors are usually prepared to wait a day to two to get paid, and in that sort of time frame, you can easily get a quick online loan from a reputable, regulated lender.
You won’t run the risk of interest rates suddenly rocketing to provide a Mashonisa with extra profits, nor will you endanger your physical well-being. Whatever you agree with an NCR regulated lender, you will know in advance exactly how much interest you will have to pay, and what timescale you have to work within.
That doesn’t mean to say that you won’t get into bother if you don’t keep to the agreed repayment schedule, even with a regulated lender. But you will be protected by the NCR’s guidelines issued to all NCR approved lenders in terms of conformance with the National Credit Act.
Borrow responsibly
The first and most important rule when thinking about applying for any type of loan is to make sure that you can afford to make the repayments on time. If you can, when you do apply for a short-term loan from an NCR approved lender you can rest assured you won’t get yourself into trouble. It’s what is known as responsible borrowing.
With most loans being approved in a matter of hours, it’s a close as you’ll get to being given an instant loan, but without any nasty, unexpected reprisals.