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South Africa’s cost-of-living squeeze has turned debt into a survival tool for many households. When everyday essentials like groceries, transport, school costs, rent and electricity keep climbing faster than salaries, it becomes easy to bridge the gap with credit – and dangerously hard to stop. The result is a slow drift from coping to over-indebtedness: […]

When it comes to collecting on outstanding debts and accounts, most small businesses – from a medical practice to an engineering shop to a retailer – simply do not have the human resources or the regulatory expertise to undertake this critically important task, which needs to strike a balance between maintaining cordial client relationships, while

Unpacking the long overdue disruption of the collection and recovery framework to make a real difference to debtor recovery Opinion by Tej Desai, CEO of Alefbet Collections & Recoveries and Bruce Curry, Independent Collections and Recovery consultant In our previous blog, we unpacked a myriad local and global challenges that indicate that the financial hardship

Unpacking the changing face of debt collection and resolution in a radically strained and altered economy Opinion by Tej Desai, CEO of Alefbet Collections & Recoveries and Bruce Curry, Independent Collections and Recovery consultant Everybody in the South African Credit Industry is aware of the economic challenges, their causes and the medium to long term

Managing the nuances between collecting outstanding debt while protecting patient relationships and confidentiality South African consumers are under huge financial strain, and the evidence of this lies in the rising burden of debt owing to creditors, and the declining ability of debtors to service this debt. Medical practices are especially finding that once diligently paying

Opinion by Tej Desai, Chief Executive Officer of Alefbet Collections & Recoveries, a group of collections BPO firms which includes Shapiro Shaik Defries and Associates,  Metropolitan Revenue Collections and ITC Business Administrators.     Debt collection methodology and strategy has evolved significantly over the years, with changes in laws, regulations, and technology driving these changes. Similarly,

In an environment of rising interest rates, growing consumer indebtedness, job losses, business closures and the increased costs of working due to load shedding, many businesses and consumers are facing unprecedented levels of financial distress. Small and medium sized businesses in particular are taking strain, facing the growing risk of once diligently paying debtors now

As fundamental as money is to the security of our livelihoods, it is one of the least understood and poorly managed essential commodities.  Millions of South Africans find themselves struggling with bad debt that they are unable to get a hold on, many have a poor grasp of their spending habits, and few actively monitor their

Levels of consumer and business financial distress have significantly deepened since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The fallout from job losses, business closures and general decrease in financial liquidity have forced sweeping changes onto how credit risk and debt collection need to be managed. The number of once diligently paying debtors who now find themselves

Time to batten down the hatches and deal with expensive debt as interest rates and inflation take their toll South Africa’s annual consumer price inflation quickened to 6,5% in May, the highest since January 2017 when the rate was 6,6%. Transport and food accounted for just over half of the annual rate. In May 2021,