Helping SA’s youth avoid costly loans to make ends meet

South Africa’s youth are at a crossroads, warns former Springbok Bryan Habana on this Youth Day, 16 June 2022.

On the one side is the shocking 65.5% youth unemployment rate says the co-founder of Earned Wage Access (EWA) company, Paymenow.

“On the other, for young people who are privileged enough to actively participate in the economy, their salaries don’t adequately cover them until month-end.”

The EWA solution allows the user to access already earned wages without the threat of a costly loan Habana explains in conversation with Motheo Khoaripe (in for Bruce Whitfield).

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If you don’t have money to get to work to earn money, how do you manage it?

Bryan Habana, Co-founder and Head of Business Development – Paymenow Group

We really try and use financial education to incentivise people and make sure they upskill themselves financially… and in so doing, work a bit better with their money.

Bryan Habana, Co-founder and Head of Business Development – Paymenow Group

The app essentially helps young people borrow from their own earnings and stop them drowning in debt from possible multiple loans, comments Khoaripe.

But can this strategy not also land them in debt?

Habana uses the example of someone needing R300 to get to work – they could get into real trouble by going to an unsecured lender who charges them exorbitant fees at a later stage he says.

If you give them access to their own money they do know it’s going to come off their own salary at the end of the month and that if they do waste it, it’s going to be a lot more vicious for them… so they end up using it much more responsibly.

Bryan Habana, Co-founder and Head of Business Development – Paymenow Group

Habana says the platform is also investigating ways of helping customers to save.

We’re the first to say honestly that we’re not a holistic solution. We’re hopefully part of a bigger financial wellness offering that employers can give their employees where they do save on fees

Bryan Habana, Co-founder and Head of Business Development – Paymenow Group

We are constantly looking at ways of saving people a little bit and in so doing providing a profound impact for them to look at their money in a very different way.

Bryan Habana, Co-founder and Head of Business Development – Paymenow Group

For more detail on how Paymenow works, take a listen:

This article first appeared on CapeTalk : Helping SA’s youth avoid costly loans to make ends meet – Bryan Habana