According to a comprehensive study by the Financial Services Board, South Africa currently has a financial literacy rate of 51%. This is on par with a number of developed countries and higher than many contemporary developing nations. However, throughout South Africa, high unemployment numbers, widespread poverty and a painfully slow economy all contribute to the country’s unique financial challenges.

The good news is that there are steps you can take to educate yourself.

Read and listen to financial news

Reading the news helps you to develop an open and critical mind while helping you to learn something new every day. It gives you insight into local and global economic events that impact your monthly budget, ability to save and invest.  The news also keeps you connected with the opinions and knowledge remarkable people from the around the world and can be a source of inspiration and knowledge. By knowing what is happening in the world around you, you’ll be able to find solutions to your financial challenges quickly and effectively.

Read all your financial contracts before you sign 

Before entering into any financial agreement, you need to understand everything listed in the contract, even if you trust the other party completely. The importance of taking the time to read all the terms and conditions cannot be overstated. Severe financial repercussions may result if you fail to stick the rules of the contract. If the stakes are high, consider hiring a lawyer to help you explain what is expected of you, what you need to deliver, and how to ensure that you are in compliance with the agreement. The money you spend on the lawyer can save you massive headaches down the road especially when lawsuits are involved.

The road to financial wellbeing may seem daunting, but one of the first challenges that we can all overcome is to educate ourselves on financial matters that are important to us. This is one of the main reasons that Vodacom Financial Services keeps its personal finance and business solutions simple and easy to understand.

Vodacom Financial Services – Easy financial solutions

Vodacom Financial Services offers a wide range of financial solutions to assist both individuals and businesses with their financial planning. 

VodaLend 

Access to business funding when you need it most.

Whether you need to fund moving into a bigger office, buy equipment or property or just to get the cash flow you need to act quickly, we can make it happen.

Quintin Van Vuuren, Executive Head of VodaLend at Vodacom Financial Services says, “Business owners know how to conduct their trade, produce and sell products and deliver services. However, many struggle to navigate the complex financial environment in which their businesses operate. They need assistance with financial literacy, financial planning and effective money management.”

The wasted effort in approaching the wrong funders or submitting incorrect information can be spent on more productive activities. That’s why organisations that fund small businesses must make the application and approval process less complicated, quick and tailored to the company’s needs.

VodaPay 

Simple, quick and convenient.

Vodacom Financial Services Chief Officer, Mariam Cassim says, “Our aim is to provide customers with a seamless and frictionless one-channel experience, ensuring consistent, efficient and personalised customer engagement, across all touch-points. As a digital-first company, we made sure that the VodaPay Masterpass app is the digital channel of choice for paying bills.”

Users simply select the “pay bills” menu option to settle a variety of accounts including DStv, taking care of a traffic fine or an SABC television license. In addition to prepaid electricity and water, Vodacom customers can buy prepaid data, airtime and SMS or voice bundles directly through the app. Customers can get an extra 10% on prepaid airtime or 1GB of data at R49 valid for 7 days or 1GB of data for R19 valid for one day. Users of the VodaPay app can also access other special offers like these under the promotions tab

VodaSure 

Easily accessible insurance cover.

Getting the right insurance cover can be a nightmare, especially when you’re dealing with complicated policy documents and contracts filled with language that you can’t understand. This is why Vodacom Financial Services ensures that all the insurance cover from short-term insurance to life, disability and salary protection is easy to understand, simple to access and affordable enough for you.