September 2010

In 2008 / 2009 a study was conducted by FinScope, a research company established by Finmark Trust, to monitor the use and perceptions of the financial sector in South Africa. The findings of this research report indicate that South Africa’s public desperately need education in terms of financial literacy.

According to the research, in spite of South Africa’s 88% basic literacy level there are still high levels of misunderstanding —or no knowledge at all —of key financial terms. Approximately 60% of the individuals indicated that they have never heard of financial terms like debt re-scheduling, debt administration, debt counselling, the National Credit Act (NCA), personal credit report and/or bad debt.

The research also indicates that less than 15% of poor people have been exposed to the formal banking environment which means that they are ignorant with regards to their rights and the consequences of entering into a formal financial agreement and dealing with unscrupulous lenders.

In terms of saving and planning for retirement, the research indicates that 67% of poor people have no retirement plan due to either their impoverished circumstances or lack of knowledge thereof.

During the research the respondents where also asked about what they would like to know more about.

The following topics were highlighted:

• How to make effective use of savings products
• How interest rates work and how they are calculated
• How to draw up and manage a budget effectively
• How to select the best investment products
• How to insure or obtain life cover
• How to find the best companies for insurance

These findings are truly astonishing and it motivates why financial literacy training should be such a big priority in our society. Compuscan Academy aims to address this problem in South Africa by offering financial literacy and money management training programmes which cover all the problems mentioned above.

Our programmes enable individuals to:

• Take charge of their financial situation
• Assess and understand their financial status
• Budget
• Make intelligent saving decisions
• Invest their savings
• Understand creditworthiness when applying for credit
• Understand default information and judgments
• Manage credit accounts responsibly
• Get out and stay out of the debt ‘trap’ and who to turn to for help
• Understand credit bureaus and credit reports
• Obtain a credit report

We at Compuscan Academy would like to invite you to help us solve the problem of financial illiteracy. By enroling for one of our programmes yourself or by enroling your employees you can make a profound difference. To learn more about Compuscan Academy’s solutions, please contact us at Tel: 021 888 6000 or e-mail us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .'; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text33653 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

To learn more about Compuscan Academy you are welcome to call us at Tel: 021 888 6000, e-mail us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to visit our website at www.compuscanacademy.co.za

More about FinScope

FinScope South Africa was piloted in 2002 with 1000 households. Since then the survey has been conducted annually with the latest findings published in November 2009. The 2009 survey was conducted by TNS Research Surveys with 3 900 interviews making use of a syndicate approach. Syndicate members have ranged from major banks and insurance companies as well as various government departments, regulators and retailers. The syndicated members for the 2009 survey were: Absa Bank, Nedbank, Liberty, National Treasury, Old Mutual, Metropolitan Life, First National Bank, Standard Bank and Teba Bank.

If you would like to gain more insight about the FinScope study you can visit www.finscope.co.za