[Unless otherwise herein defined, definitions of terms are as set out in the Act.]

“Act”

means the National Credit Act, 34 of 2005, and its Regulations, as amended;

“assessment”

for purpose of this Guideline, means the assessment undertaken by SACRRA to determine the on-boarding timetable applicable to a credit or data provider in accordance with the data format development and volume of credit information to be submitted by such credit or data provider to the credit bureaux;

“credit bureaus”

means those credit bureaux that have been authorised in writing by the National Credit Regulator to receive, host and return credit information to any party requesting it for a permitted purpose or a purpose contemplated in the Act;

“credit information”

means “consumer credit information” as defined in Section 70(1) of the Act, and includes payment profile information;

“data format”

means the data specification prescribed by the National Credit Regulator in terms of this Guideline, attached as Annexure A hereto, and which may be updated by the National Credit Regulator from time to time. The data format specifies the data fields that must be completed when credit information is reported to the credit bureaux;

“data provider”

means any source of information as set out in Regulation 18(7)(b) – (c) and 18(7)(e) – (f) that may provide credit information to the credit bureaux;

“Data Transmission Hub”

means the encrypted data transfer interface managed by SACRRA through which credit information is submitted to the credit bureaux;

“Guideline”

means this Guideline issued in terms of Regulation 19(13) of the Act, and which is binding on all credit providers, data providers and credit bureaux;

“payment profile information”

means the payment history and financial information relating to a debt or credit transaction, including relevant payment dates, both negative and positive information and/or signs depicting action taken in respect of such debt or credit transaction;

“on-boarding”

means the process whereby credit information is recorded in the data format and processed in a manner that enables it to be transmitted via the Data Transmission Hub to the credit bureaux; and

“SACRRA”

means the South African Credit and Risk Reporting Association.

Any reference to hours or days in this Guideline shall mean hours in a business day, or business days, respectively.