D Financial Terms

DebiCheck

Banking

DebiCheck is a South African debit order authentication system introduced by the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) and operated through Bank...

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Debit Order

Banking

A debit order is you saying 'yes, take money from my account on this date every month.' It's how most loan repayments work in South Africa. You sign o...

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Debt Consolidation

Loans

Roll all your debts into one loan. One payment, one interest rate, usually cheaper. But watch out — pay it back or you'll just get into the same mess ...

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Debt Counselling

Legal

Formal debt relief under the NCA — a registered debt counsellor negotiates with your creditors to lower your monthly repayments. The court protects yo...

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Debt Review

Legal

Same thing as debt counselling — it's the official term. Once you apply, you're flagged at every credit bureau. You can't take new credit until you've...

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Debt Snowball Method

General

Pay off your smallest debt first while paying minimums on the rest. Once that's gone, roll that money into the next smallest. It's psychology — you ge...

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Debt Trap

General

The spiral. You borrow to pay old debt. New debt to pay new debt. Each month you're deeper. It's hectic and it's how people end up at debt counsellors...

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Debt-to-Income Ratio

General

Basically the percentage of your income that goes toward debt repayments. If you earn R25,000 and pay R10,000 monthly toward debts, your ratio is 40%....

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Default

Credit

You failed to pay a loan as agreed. Three missed payments and — boom — the lender registers a default on your credit report. This torpedo's your credi...

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Disbursement

Loans

Once your loan is approved and you've signed all the paperwork, the lender actually has to give you the money. That's disbursement. Usually hits your ...

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