1 reviews | Active since Dec 2011
Predatory tactics, false promises, and a process that is nothing like what they advertise
For months, FinChoice bombarded me with unsolicited emails and SMSs telling me I qualify for a loan and that it only takes 10 minutes to apply. When I found myself in a genuinely urgent financial situation, I decided to finally take them up on their persistent offer. That was a mistake.
What followed was nothing like the quick, simple process they advertise. Before I could even complete my application, I was required to take out funeral cover. A product I did not ask for and do not need, seemingly built into the process as a condition of applying. I also had to sign a debit mandate. After submitting all my documents, my application has been sitting as "under review" for over 24 hours.
Now let's talk about their SMS wording, because this is where it gets really dishonest. The message I received reads: "get your R18000.00 by uploading your 3 most recent payslips or bank statements." Read that again. Not "continue your application." Not "to be considered for." GET YOUR R18,000.00. As a consumer, that reads as the money already being approved and mine, with the document upload being the final step to receive it. That is not a grey area. That is deliberately misleading language designed to make you believe the outcome is already decided in your favour. It is only once you are deep in the process, with funeral cover taken out and a debit mandate signed, that you discover you are not guaranteed anything.
FinChoice's own website states: "If everything's in order, we'll finalise your application within 24 to 48 hours." Yet yesterday, after 17:00, someone attempted to call me. When I tried to call back, no answer. No follow-up. Nothing. That kind of after-hours contact with no ability to reach anyone back signals exactly what is happening here.
This is what FinChoice actually does:
- They spam people for months with targeted loan offers and deliberately worded messages that imply the money is already approved and waiting. - They force additional financial products like funeral cover onto applicants during the process, collecting premiums regardless of whether the loan is approved or declined. - They misrepresent the process as fast and simple when it is clearly neither. - They leave people who came to them in a moment of financial urgency with no communication, no answers, and no resolution.
If this loan is declined, I will have been manipulated into purchasing funeral cover I never wanted, had my personal banking details collected via debit mandate, and been left in a worse position than before I app****. That is not a financial service. That is exploitation of vulnerable people through deceptive marketing.
I will be lodging a formal complaint with the NCR and the FSCA. The combination of misleading pre-approval language, bundled financial products, and failure to deliver on their advertised process are serious concerns under the National Credit Act and Consumer Protection Act. I encourage anyone else who has been misled by their SMS campaigns to do the same.
You used the phrase "mandatory addition of funeral cover." Your words, not mine. You have just publicly confirmed that funeral cover is mandatory in your application process. That is not a minor detail. That means every person who applies for a loan through FinChoice is being required to take on an additional financial product, whether they want it or not, before they even know if they qualify. That is exactly what I said in my review, and you have now confirmed it yourself.
You also said this caused "a measure of discomfort." I want to be clear about what actually happened. I completed your full online application. I accepted funeral cover I did not ask for. I signed a debit mandate. I submitted all my documents. It was only after all of that was done that you sent me an SMS saying "get your R18,000.00 by uploading your documents", and then placed my application under review. That is not how a legitimate lending process works. Every other lender runs their credit and affordability checks before asking a customer to sign a debit mandate or submit documents. If I was going to be declined, that should have happened during the application, not after I had already committed to additional products and handed over my banking details. By the time you asked for documents, any reasonable person would believe approval was a formality.
I lost three days I could not afford to lose, during a genuine financial emergency, while I could have been making another plan. That is not discomfort. That is the direct result of a process designed to get as much commitment from the customer as possible before any decision is actually made.
You have not addressed any of this. You have not addressed the "10 minutes" claim. You have not addressed why someone called after 17:00 with no way to call back. You have not given any timeline for resolution.
Moving this to email is not a resolution. It is a way to take accountability off a public platform. I will be keeping this review updated and I will be proceeding with formal complaints to the NCR, the FSCA, and under the Consumer Protection Act. The word "mandatory" in your own response will be included in those complaints.
You used the phrase "mandatory addition of funeral cover." Your words, not mine. You have just publicly confirmed that funeral cover is mandatory in your application process. That is not a minor detail. That means every person who applies for a loan through FinChoice is being required to take on an additional financial product, whether they want it or not, before they even know if they qualify. That is exactly what I said in my review, and you have now confirmed it yourself.
You also said this caused "a measure of discomfort." I want to be clear about what actually happened. I completed your full online application. I accepted funeral cover I did not ask for. I signed a debit mandate. I submitted all my documents. It was only after all of that was done that you sent me an SMS saying "get your R18,000.00 by uploading your documents", and then placed my application under review. That is not how a legitimate lending process works. Every other lender runs their credit and affordability checks before asking a customer to sign a debit mandate or submit documents. If I was going to be declined, that should have happened during the application, not after I had already committed to additional products and handed over my banking details. By the time you asked for documents, any reasonable person would believe approval was a formality.
I lost three days I could not afford to lose, during a genuine financial emergency, while I could have been making another plan. That is not discomfort. That is the direct result of a process designed to get as much commitment from the customer as possible before any decision is actually made.
You have not addressed any of this. You have not addressed the "10 minutes" claim. You have not addressed why someone called after 17:00 with no way to call back. You have not given any timeline for resolution.
Moving this to email is not a resolution. It is a way to take accountability off a public platform. I will be keeping this review updated and I will be proceeding with formal complaints to the NCR, the FSCA, and under the Consumer Protection Act. The word "mandatory" in your own response will be included in those complaints.
FinChoice has responded via email, and their response has raised more concerns than it has resolved.
In their email, they state the following: "While applications at FinChoice may be provisionally approved, additional verification checks are required before finalization, which can impact processing timelines."
I need everyone reading this to sit with that wording for a moment, and then compare it to what FinChoice actually shows you during the application process.
Their portal, after you have completed your application, signed a debit mandate, accepted funeral cover, and submitted your documents, states verbatim: "Your 12 Month Flexi Loan for R18000.00 will be paid to you as soon as the following actions are completed."
Their SMS, sent after document submission, states: " get your R18000.00 by uploading your 3 most recent payslips or bank statements."
And now, only after a public complaint, they introduce the phrase "may be provisionally approved."
Those are not three versions of the same message. They are three completely different descriptions of the same application status. "Will be paid to you" and "get your R18,000.00" are not provisional language. They are statements of cer*****y, and they are what FinChoice chooses to show customers during the application process, after those customers have already signed a debit mandate and accepted mandatory funeral cover.
"May be provisionally approved" is the honest description. Which means everything they showed me on their portal and sent me via SMS was not.
My application status on their portal remains unchanged. No movement. Despite their Hellopeter response stating they are thoroughly investigating, and despite the email from their team, nothing has actually happened on my application.
I have screenshots of all of the above and will be proceeding with formal complaints to the NCR, the FSCA, and under the Consumer Protection Act. I will continue to update this review.
FinChoice has responded via email, and their response has raised more concerns than it has resolved.
In their email, they state the following: "While applications at FinChoice may be provisionally approved, additional verification checks are required before finalization, which can impact processing timelines."
I need everyone reading this to sit with that wording for a moment, and then compare it to what FinChoice actually shows you during the application process.
Their portal, after you have completed your application, signed a debit mandate, accepted funeral cover, and submitted your documents, states verbatim: "Your 12 Month Flexi Loan for R18000.00 will be paid to you as soon as the following actions are completed."
Their SMS, sent after document submission, states: " get your R18000.00 by uploading your 3 most recent payslips or bank statements."
And now, only after a public complaint, they introduce the phrase "may be provisionally approved."
Those are not three versions of the same message. They are three completely different descriptions of the same application status. "Will be paid to you" and "get your R18,000.00" are not provisional language. They are statements of cer*****y, and they are what FinChoice chooses to show customers during the application process, after those customers have already signed a debit mandate and accepted mandatory funeral cover.
"May be provisionally approved" is the honest description. Which means everything they showed me on their portal and sent me via SMS was not.
My application status on their portal remains unchanged. No movement. Despite their Hellopeter response stating they are thoroughly investigating, and despite the email from their team, nothing has actually happened on my application.
I have screenshots of all of the above and will be proceeding with formal complaints to the NCR, the FSCA, and under the Consumer Protection Act. I will continue to update this review.