Here's the thing about credit scores in South Africa: everyone's got an opinion, and most of them are wrong.
You'll hear it at the pub, at work, from your uncle who "knows a guy" – myths about credit scores are everywhere. Check your score and it tanks. Get debt to build credit. Close that card before it drains you. The problem is, almost every piece of advice people hand out confidently is either half-true or completely backwards. And when you're trying to borrow money – whether for a car, a home, or a consolidation loan – believing the wrong thing can cost you thousands in extra interest.
The latest NCR data shows over 20 million South Africans have impaired credit records. That's one in three credit-active adults. Most of them would swear they're doing everything "right" based on advice they picked up somewhere. They're not. They're just following myths.
Myth #1: Checking Your Own Score Destroys It
This one is pervasive. People genuinely believe that pulling their own credit report will lower their score. Eish.
When you check your score – whether through free services, TransUnion, Experian, or your bank – that's a "soft enquiry." It has zero impact. None. Your score doesn't move.
What actually damages your score? Hard enquiries. That's when a lender pulls your report because you've applied for a loan, a credit card, or a store account. Even then, the damage is temporary – maybe 5-10 points, and it fades within a few months. One hard enquiry from Capitec when you apply for a personal loan? Fine. Three hard enquiries in a week because you're shopping around desperately? That signals desperation to lenders and counts against you.
The practical takeaway: check your score whenever you want. Seriously, do it. You should know where you stand before you apply for anything.
Myth #2: You Need Debt to Build Good Credit
"I need to carry a balance to show I can borrow responsibly." Wrong. Dead wrong.
What you actually need is a credit history – not debt. There's a difference. A person who's used a credit card responsibly for five years, paying it off in full every month, has better credit than someone who's been in debt for five years. Same history length. One costs you money in interest; the other builds credit for free.
According to TransUnion's latest data, the average South African credit score sits at 612, with only 42% of consumers above 700. The people in that 42% aren't carrying unnecessary debt – they're managing credit efficiently. They use it, they pay it back, they move on.
If you want to build credit without paying interest: get a store account (use it carefully), get added as an authorised user on someone else's account, or use a credit card you pay off monthly. That's how you do it.
Myth #3: Close Old Cards to Improve Your Score
People do this constantly. They think: "I don't use this card, so I'll close it and clean things up." Then their score drops.
Two reasons. First, when you close a card, you reduce your total available credit. If you had R50,000 available across three cards and you close one with R20,000 limit, you're now at R30,000. Your credit utilisation ratio jumps. If you're using R10,000, you went from 20% utilisation to 33%. That's flagged as riskier.
Second, the account history disappears. Credit bureaus weight the length of your oldest account heavily – it shows you can manage long-term relationships with lenders. Close a five-year-old card and that history gets shorter.
Keep old cards open. Don't use them if you don't want to. Just don't close them.
Myth #4: Your Salary Affects Your Credit Score
It doesn't. Full stop.
Your credit score is built from: payment history (35%), amounts owed (30%), length of credit history (15%), credit mix (10%), and new credit (10%). Income doesn't appear anywhere. A person earning R8,000 per month can have a 750 score while someone on R120,000 sits at 600. The difference is behaviour, not money.
What your income does affect is affordability. That's different. When you apply for a loan, lenders check both your score and your income because they need to know if you can actually repay. But the score itself? That's purely about how you've managed credit in the past.
Myth #5: Paying Off a Default Erases It
Nope. This one hurts people regularly.
If you default on an account – miss payments, get sent to collections – and then you pay it off, the default record stays on your credit report for up to 24 months from the date you paid it. An unpaid default stays longer. After 24 months, it's automatically removed.
A paid default is genuinely better than an unpaid one (lenders see you came through eventually), but don't think paying it off wipes the slate clean immediately. It doesn't. The damage lingers. That's why avoiding defaults in the first place matters more than fixing them later.
The Debt Review Misconception
Being under debt review is hectic. Your credit score tanks. The record stays on your report while you're in the programme. Lenders see it and most won't touch you.
But here's what people get wrong: they think it's permanent. They think coming out of debt review leaves a permanent scar.
When you complete debt review and get your clearance certificate, the debt review flag is removed from your report. Your score is still going to be low – you've just spent three to five years not improving it – but the flag disappears. From that point, responsible behaviour starts rebuilding your score. Within 18-24 months of on-time payments, clean behaviour, and keeping utilisation down, you can climb back to acceptable territory.
Is it slow? Yes. Is it permanent? No. That matters.
What Actually Moves Your Score
Paying on time. Every single month. That's 35% of your score.
Low utilisation. Keep what you owe below 30% of your available credit. That's another 30%.
Long history. Don't close accounts. Don't apply for new credit you don't need.
Mix. Having a credit card, a store account, and an instalment loan looks better than having just one type.
Fewer applications. Each application for new credit is a hard enquiry. Too many in a short time flags you as desperate.
No shortcuts. No hacks. No secret sauce.
Where South Africans Actually Go Wrong
It's not usually what people do – it's what they don't do. They don't check their reports for errors. They don't review their statements. They don't notice when something's been reported incorrectly until they apply for a loan and get rejected.
And then they panic and do something stupid. They apply to five lenders at once (more hard enquiries). They close cards (utilisation jumps). They take on more debt to "show" they can handle it (more risk). All of it makes things worse.
The SARB kept the repo rate steady at 6.75% in March 2026, citing inflation concerns from global events. That means interest rates on loans aren't moving down anytime soon. If you're going to borrow, having a decent score matters. Every percentage point in rate difference adds up fast on R10,000 or R100,000.
How to Check for Free
You're entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three major credit bureaus: TransUnion, Experian, and Innovus. Order it online or go in person. Check for:
- Accounts you don't recognise
- Payments reported as late that you paid on time
- Defaults you've already paid off that haven't been removed
- Duplicates
Found an error? Lodge a dispute with the bureau directly. It can take 20-30 days to fix, but it's worth it.
Want to see your actual score? TransUnion's latest offering includes a new telco-powered credit score (launched in March 2026) that uses mobile phone payment behaviour to rate people with limited formal credit history. For the traditional FICO score, you'll usually pay R30-60 at a bureau, or check through your bank if they offer it free.
What About When You Need to Borrow?
You don't need a perfect score to get a loan. A score above 610 is considered acceptable by most mainstream lenders. Above 661 and you're into competitive rates. Above 767 and you're looking at the best offers.
The honest truth? If you have bad credit, you can still borrow – you'll just pay more. That's why fixing the myths matters. The difference between a 650 score and a 750 score on a R50,000 consolidation loan might be 2-3 percentage points in interest. Over five years, that's thousands.
If you're thinking about borrowing, you should compare offers from multiple lenders. Shop around before applying. Most comparison tools (including ours) don't do hard enquiries – they just show you what's available so you can decide who to approach. That first application does the hard enquiry; after that, you're just locked in.
The Actual Path Forward
Pay on time. Every month. It's boring. It's not complicated. It's just consistent behaviour over time.
Keep credit balances low. Aim for under 30% of your limit on each account.
Don't close old accounts.
Check your report once a year for errors.
Only apply for credit when you actually need it.
And stop listening to myths. Seriously.