Debt and credit under the National Credit Act
See what your credit really costs, and how it clears
Check a loan's rate and fees against the legal maximums, test the in duplum limit on charges after default, find out when old debt may prescribe, and plan payoffs with your own numbers.
- Source: the NCA and its regulations
- Reviewed 30 October 2026
- Nothing you type leaves your device
Maximum interest per year
At repo 7.25%
- Home loan
- 19.25%
- Credit or store card
- 21.25%
- Personal loan
- 28.25%
- Vehicle finance and other
- 24.25%
National Credit Regulations, Table A · plus a R60 monthly service fee cap
Calculators
Each one shows its working and links to the law it comes from.
Loan cost and interest cap checker
Your instalment and total cost of credit, and whether the rate, initiation fee and service fee are within the National Credit Regulations caps.
Open calculatorIn duplum checker
Have the interest, fees and collection costs since you defaulted gone past the unpaid principal balance? Section 103(5) of the NCA.
Open calculatorDebt prescription date calculator
When a debt may prescribe under the Prescription Act: 3, 6, 15 or 30 years from when it was due or last acknowledged.
Open calculatorDebt payoff planner (snowball and avalanche)
Put your own balances, rates and budget in and compare two payoff orders side by side. Nothing is recommended.
Open plannerThe rules at a glance
- Repo rate
- 7.25%
- Personal loan cap
- 28.25%
- Service fee cap
- R60
- In duplum
- 1 ×
- Most debts prescribe after
- 3 years
- NCR call centre
- 0860 627 627
from 25 September 2026; most interest caps are repo plus a margin
a year: repo + 21% for unsecured credit
a month, on any credit agreement
charges after default may not exceed the unpaid principal at default
without a payment, acknowledgement or summons
for complaints about credit providers, collectors and debt counsellors
Plain-English guides
Your rights and the steps, with the section of the Act for each.
NCA interest rate and fee caps
The maximum interest rate for each type of credit, the initiation fee table and the monthly service fee.
Read the guideDebt review (debt counselling) explained
Who can apply, the Form 16 steps, the 60 business days, what it does to your credit, and how it ends.
Read the guidePrescribed debt: your rights
When old debt prescribes, what interrupts it, and what section 126B of the NCA says about collecting it.
Read the guideHow to complain to the National Credit Regulator
Try the credit provider first, then the NCR: the call centre, Form 29 and what to include.
Read the guideWhy KayaClear?
The law, not a sales pitch
Every cap and period comes from the National Credit Act, its regulations or the Prescription Act. Where something is not settled, we say so.
No lenders, no referrals
We do not recommend or link to any lender, credit product or debt counsellor, and we earn nothing from your choices.
Private by design
The calculators run in your browser. Your balances and dates are never sent to us or to advertisers.