When lockdown restrictions put a huge strain on businesses and countless job were lost, consumers turned to their credit cards to keep up with monthly expenses, resulting in worrying levels of indebtedness. 

Data suggests consumers have on average 20 percent more unsecured debt in 2022 compared to 2016, and those earning R20,000 or more have unsecured debt levels that are 54 percent higher than in 2016.

And the knocks just keep coming. Rising food and fuel prices are putting more strain on an economy struggling to recover, causing consumers to take on more debt to make ends meet, creating a vicious cycle that is hard to break free from.

These effects are being felt in the business sector, as unpaid debt negatively affects a company’s cash flow and limits its ability to recover, invest and grow.

According to Sameer Kumandan, Managing Director of data aggregation platform, SearchWorks, South Africa’s exceedingly high debt-to-income ratio demands an intelligent approach to debt recovery that considers a debtor’s individual circumstances, including their affordability and current debt levels. “Businesses need the most reliable, up-to-date information available to avoid fraudulent accounts and ensure the correct communication channels are used for tracing purposes to recover outstanding monies and, in some cases, to deliver summons,” says Kumandan.

The SearchWorks online platform allows users to conduct live, accurate searches on individuals and companies, and in-depth KYC checks online. This gives companies that extend credit access to vital information on potential and existing customers, enabling them to devise fact-based collections strategies to manage costs and maximise recovery rates. This information can also assist in the decision on whether or not to grant credit at all. “While businesses are required to grant credit in terms of the National Credit Act, they need to ensure that they give credit in line with what the customer can afford. If a business does not adhere to this it could be in danger of irresponsible lending,” warns Kumandan.

By using SearchWorks, which offers the user 160 different search types and gives instant access to over 20 data sources, including all credit bureaus in South Africa, debt collectors can perform ID and bank account verifications; asset valuation; live tracing on individual and company records and batch tracing for multiple records at once; credit, past employment, property and directorship searches; and have access to an income estimator on the new client, all within the confines of the law.

“A common challenge for debt recovery departments and organisations is not being able to find debtors, as they move around and change contact numbers. Debtors also frequently make payment arrangements, pay for a month or two and then stop paying. Accurate information is vital in this industry as the costs of recovering debt can escalate quickly, particularly when legal action must be taken,” reveals Kumandan.

Like any good business strategy, efficiency is key. Debt collectors need to maximise resources at the lowest possible cost, while ensuring they are managing their financial risks, and they need to do this without wrestling with separate, manual and time-consuming systems.

“Fortunately, this can be achieved using today’s modern technologies and methodologies. SearchWorks’ easy-to-use and cost-effective platform enables organisations to streamline their processes, giving collections departments the edge they need in a highly competitive market.”

Established in 2012 the SearchWorks platform allows users to conduct live, accurate searches on individuals and companies and administer in-depth KYC checks online.

The brand refresh is also a nod to the vibrant and ever-changing tech environment in which relevant products, services, and data are business critical – a demand SearchWorks has embraced by consistently adding new search types and functionality to its platform.

Robyn Beckworth-Judge, Group Marketing Head says the decision to modernise the SearchWorks brand comes at an opportune moment for the company, as it expands its reach within key industries where KYC procedures and other vetting processes need to be done quickly and accurately, without disrupting the customer journey.

“From a product offering to a thriving subsidiary, SearchWorks has grown to offer 160 search types and counting. It was important that the brand refresh reflected the status of SearchWorks as a platform that delivers powerful results,” Beckworth-Judge added.

With the company’s principles of accuracy and efficiency in mind, the new visual elements within the revised brand, show the company’s data journey and highlights the complexity of the SearchWorks backend. As a final touch, the brand’s orange was also reinvigorated to a brighter hue.

“Our new identity is simple, yet effective, all of which encapsulates SearchWorks. We are pleased to launch this revised identity at a time that marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for this business,” says Beckworth-Judge.

According to KPMG’s recent South African Insurance Industry Survey: “The insurance industry is highly competitive – to stay relevant, insurers must embrace digitalisation to ensure they can continue to serve their customers’ needs in an efficient and simplified manner and grow the customer base to achieve economies of scale in an environment of increasing costs.”

Customer onboarding is the start of a customer’s journey with an insurer and often one of the very few interactions they will have with the company (all going well with the customer, of course).

The process, therefore, needs to be seamless to ensure a good foundation for a lasting relationship, and in an era of sky-high consumer expectations in terms of convenience, flexibility and speed of transactions, the traditionally manual and time-consuming onboarding process is fast becoming unsustainable.

When digitalised, basic and repetitive tasks can be left to technology, freeing up staff to focus on more complex activities and improve customer experience.

“Smooth onboarding and Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures are key when onboarding to ensure user-friendly customer journeys. This is where SearchWorks can assist via multiple services to streamline the process while mitigating risk when new applicants are considered,” says Sameer Kumandan, Managing Director of SearchWorks, an innovative data aggregation platform that allows users to conduct live, accurate searches on individuals and companies and in-depth KYC checks online.

The web-based search application is a bespoke solution giving companies access to up-to-date information and a multitude of safeguards tailored to their specific needs.

While onboarding new clients, a SearchWorks report will provide the insurer with the applicant’s ID verification, bank account verification to assist with monthly debit order instructions and loyalty payments, detailed property and vehicle valuations to assist with monthly premiums, trace and contact data, CIPC searches to verify companies, and social media checks.

This fully inclusive and customised report ensures that the insurance agent knows everything about who is being onboarded, helping with decisions on premiums based on potential risk factors.

“By using SearchWorks, organisations have a wealth of information at their fingertips with very little effort required to access it. Various onboarding and KYC checks can be added using multiple data sources with only a few client inputs,” explains Kumandan. This mitigates risk by ensuring member validity via multiple validation services. “By using SearchWorks’ ‘one click’ validation service, insurance agents will quickly know whether a new applicant is being truthful in their application feedback, decreasing the amount of time spent on either clearing or rejecting applications. Having regular validations in place will also ensure that the correct monthly premium is in play based on a high or low risk factor.”

User experience has become of optimal importance – the insurer that limits the number of clicks it takes to sign up, the number of documents needed to verify one’s identity, and the time it takes to join and fulfil KYC obligations is well ahead of the game.