Standard Bank Fraud Alert
Standard Bank would like to warn the public about a fraudulent entity and/or website that uses Standard Bank's information in an attempt to legitimise its illegal activities.
The entity operates under the name Direct Access Finance and claims to be located at Standard Bank Centre, 5 Simmonds Street, Johannesburg. It operates the following website: https://directaccessfinance.co.za/ purporting to assist consumers with credit solutions.
The website attempts to garner legitimacy by associating its physical address with that of Standard Bank and links itself to one of Standard Bank’s subsidiaries Blue Granite 2. Direct Access Finance is NOT registered with the National Credit Regulator, and has no legal mandate to advise on or provide financial credit.
Standard Bank has no direct or indirect association with the entity and/or website in question, and we urge consumers not to confuse it with other legitimate financial services providers that may have closely related names.
Standard Bank has reported the matter to the relevant regulators, and we are pursuing measures for this illegal website to be taken down. We encourage the public to always ensure that they are dealing with registered financial services providers to avoid falling victim to scams of this nature.
Consumers are advised to borrow from registered lenders with the National Credit Regulator (NCR) as they are bound by the National Credit Act. The National Credit Regulator provides oversight and compliance with the Act, and protects customers by:
- Setting maximum interest rates and fees that can be charged
- Ensuring full disclosures of all information in an agreement
- Ensuring lenders use the correct methods lenders can use to collect debt in the case of default
Lenders registered under National Credit Act will never charge an upfront fee to for consumers to borrow money.
Registered Lenders can be verified on the National Credit Regulator website here.