(Finchoice) Loan CALC and SIM

(Finchoice) Loan CALC and SIM is an independent, unofficial Android app: a loan simulation, calculator and plain-language guide to the cost of a FinChoice personal loan. It works entirely on figures you type in yourself.

What the app does

The developer describes it in one line, and the app is that line: a simulation, a calculator, and a guide. You supply the amount, the rate and the term; the app does the arithmetic and explains the vocabulary a credit agreement uses. Nothing is submitted anywhere.

Who FinChoice is

FinChoice lends in South Africa and is part of the HomeChoice group. Its own published terms describe it as a registered credit provider in terms of the National Credit Act, and a January 2023 version of those terms gives its registration as NCRCP 454. Its site is at finchoice.mobi.

Those are that company own published statements, quoted here for reference rather than endorsed. Registration details change, so confirm the current entry yourself on the register kept by the National Credit Regulator before borrowing.

What the National Credit Act gives you

South Africa caps what a registered credit provider may charge, and the cap moves with the repo rate set by the South African Reserve Bank rather than being a fixed number.

• Unsecured credit interest is capped by a formula tied to the repo rate, expressed in the regulations as the repo rate multiplied by 2.2, plus 20 per cent a year.
• Short term credit carries a separate ceiling of 5 per cent a month.
• The initiation fee on unsecured credit is R165 plus 10 per cent of the amount above R1,000, capped at R1,050, and may not exceed 15 per cent of the principal.
• A monthly service fee is also capped. Published figures have been revised over time, so check the current gazetted amount rather than relying on a number quoted in an article.

The Act also requires a credit provider to assess whether you can afford the repayments, and gives you the right to challenge an agreement as reckless credit if that assessment was not properly done.

What it does not do

This app is an independent educational app. It is not an official representative of the brand it is named after, and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to it, nor to any government body or regulator. It does not offer loans and cannot be used to apply for one. It does not process applications, does not disburse funds, does not check application status and does not access any account. There is no account, no login and no personal data.

Never type an identity number, a bank account number, a password or a one-time PIN into any third-party app or website. All figures the app produces are estimates for planning only, and the binding terms are the ones in the lender own offer document.