By: Natasha Archary
From creche to university, Capitec’s Education Loan is paving the way for accessible learning across South Africa.
Group Executive of Marketing and Communications at Capitec, Francois Viviers breaks down how the bank aims to change access to higher education with its flexible financial solutions in the education sector.
“We all the traditional study loans and what they offer, but at Capitec, we looked at our clients’ needs and what the landscape is really like in South Africa.
To paint the picture, there’s about 13 million students, give or take, from pre-school to graduates, and only a very small portion of them qualify for traditional study loans.
But there’s a bigger need for people who are at school, or studying part-time, or people who have paid most of their tuition and just have a small amount due in order to get their final qualification.
We decided to close that gap.
What Capitec offers is a personal loan that a student who is working part-time and earning an income, or offered to the parent but it can be used in any of the 25 000 institutions in the country.
As long as the purpose is education, and the institution is registered with Capitec’s partner, Smartfunder.”
From creches to universities, inclusive of online course and vocational training, Capitec’s Education Loan provides an immediate response for more tangible access to education.
Registered credit bureau, TPN disclosed that a staggering 40% of school fee accounts were in arrears at the end of 2022.
Francois Viviers says understanding that financial limitations can obstruct academic development, Capitec firmly believes that enhancing access to quality education can directly address several challenges.
Listen to the conversation on Kaya Biz:
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