Fewer consumers defaulting on debt

Johannesburg- The number of credit-active consumers in good standing improved in the third quarter of 2010 when compared to the second quarter.

Figures from the National Credit Regulator (NCR) released on Wednesday show that as at the end of September, credit bureaus had records for 18.35 million credit-active consumers.

Of the 18.35 million consumers, 9.86 million or 53.7% were classified as in good standing, an improvement from the previous quarter.

This is the first improvement in consumers' credit reports since December 2007, according to NCR CEO Gabriel Davel.

He added, however, that future quarters will have to be assessed to confirm whether the improvement is sustainable.

Other positive news is that the number of consumers with impaired records decreased to 8.49 million during the quarter, indicating an improvement in the credit records of 97 000 consumers quarter-on-quarter.

The number of impaired accounts decreased by 505 000 to 16.55 million, a 0.4% improvement between the second and third quarters.