2013 was a year of strategic change for consumer education at the Credit Ombud. We spent a large portion of our time reviewing our strategy and approach around consumer education initiatives, with the end result being the introduction of the Double Impact Training for credit provider and member’s staff.  This training, which is a mixture of personal finance, credit and the functioning of the credit industry has the benefit of a three pronged benefit, viz.

• the employee benefits from having the knowledge to make more informed financial decisions and deal with problems swiftly;
• the employer benefits from having informed staff who are more present (both physically and mentally) at the work place as they know how to deal with any problems they may have which stem from their financial activities;
• the industry benefits from having  knowledgeable employees who understand the workings of the industry better

The past quarter has been a very busy one, with behind the scenes work being conducted to schedule Double Impact workshops for credit providers. We conducted Double Impact training for employees from Edcon in the recent weeks and received good reviews from those who attended the training.

Our Agony Aunt by email services, a free online question and answer service for Double Impact graduates, is also up and running and some Double Impact graduates have already started to make use of the facility.

We partnered with the KZN and Gauteng Consumer Affairs offices respectively in their major outreach programme and employee financial wellness drive in the past quarter. The sessions with the Gauteng Consumer Affairs office also saw employees from the Economic Development Department and its associated agencies benefit from the Credit Ombud’s presentation.

We look forward to spreading the wings of the Double Impact Training in 2014 and making a marked difference in the industry through this training initiative.  All member credit providers and other stakeholders who are interested in training for their staff members are welcome to contact me via email on nloeto@creditombud.org.za or on
011 781 6431.

Our work in the media has continued to bear good fruit, with our reach extending to radio stations in all 9 provinces. To date, we have achieved an advertising value equivalent of more than R 22 million. We hope to increase our footprint in the media in 2014 and secure even more regular radio slots with community radio stations where we can deliver much needed education to consumers across the country, especially outlying areas.