Wonga SA – Generation Y – Promoting digital finance on ethical grounds

Although Wonga SA trade their payday loans online autonomously in South Africa and are not therefore affected by the rulings made by Britain’s financial regulation authorities, they are nonetheless working hard to maintain their image and present their ethical credentials to the South African public.

The payday loan industry has been much maligned in recent years, culminating last year in Wonga UK being dragged over the coals about responsible lending. But with the recent appointment of Brett Van Aswegen as the new CEO of Wonga.co.za, the South African arm of Wonga is determined to make sure it doesn’t fall into the same trap as their British cousins.

Enter Mr. Brett Van Aswegen

Mr. Van Aswegen comes highly recommended. Having spent 12 years at Lucas (the large South African furniture manufacturer) during which time he headed-up the introduction of a series of innovative credit facilities, oversaw the engineering of new risk assessment modeling and bringing through a number of telling marketing initiatives, one of which was the launching of a perpetuating credit facility for Lewis’s customers, Brett Van Aswegen is a well-seasoned campaigner in the finance world.

Before Lewis, Van Aswegen was instrumental as chairman for the Credit Providers Association in bringing the South African National Credit Act into existence.

Digital finance and Generation “Y”

With digital finance set to take-off big time here in South Africa, Mr. Van Aswegen’s appointment comes at just the right time. The Generation “Y” factor is beginning to make its presence felt. Generation “Y” refers to the generation born during the 1980s and 1990s; a generation which is widely perceived to comprise of new wave baby boomers who have an innate awareness and familiarity with all things digital.

Generation “Y” has taken to Smartphone technology like ducks to water and it’s the perfect platform for things like payday loan accessibility. But while this is a very exciting new market and demographic, it also one which can be seen as being quite vulnerable, and this is where Wonga SA is stepping up to the mark to look after its potential clients.

Wonga South Africa has recently completed its second annual client survey and the results have been published under the influence of the new CEO. In a recent interview Mr. Van Aswegen goes on record as saying, “It is imperative that consumers are educated about the various issues related to credit and to get financially fit to avoid getting into debt. It is also important to distinguish good debt from bad debt and unfortunately most consumers don’t see it this way.”

Wonga SA set about preparing the ethical ground

In order to optimize the opportunity that presents itself in respect of the digital era and Generation “Y,” this education is something that needs to be promoted. Talking about not only his own company, Wonga.co.za, but the finance industry in general in South Africa Mr. Van Aswegen said through SA Breaking News. “We need to take collective responsibility for the financial health and wellbeing of consumers. Being responsible in our approach to credit provision is the first step towards ensuring a stable and sustainable credit market in South Africa.”