What you need to know
Are you a motivated learner whose grades qualify you to study further at college or university? If you can’t afford the fees you don’t have to give up your dreams.
MANATI provides a personalised approach that seeks to understand and support your potential. Our individually assessed student loans have low monthly repayments while you’re studying, and you only need to finish paying off your loan after you graduate.
We’ll support you every step of the way, helping you get your career off to a flying start.
Anyone who is provisionally accepted or registered at a tertiary institution that is partnered with MANATI. At MANATI we will also take joint household income into consideration when reviewing your application.
We are continually adding partner Educational Institutions to our network. See our list of current partners on the “How to Apply” page.
Your monthly instalments start immediately once your loan is activated. The first debit order will usually be scheduled to be deducted from your bank account within the first month of signing the loan agreement. These are fixed instalments at a low interest rate.
You’re given the equivalent of your study duration to pay back the outstanding amount on your loan. For example, if you study for three years, you will have three further years after graduating to complete your repayments.
Very favourable floating interest rates from Prime + 3% will be charged during and after studying.
The contract is in the sponsor's name for the student’s benefit. The student will have the option to take over loan repayments after studying, but they are not obligated to do so.
We are an alternative loan providing platform. Our typical client would not, under normal circumstances, qualify for a bank loan or a student loan and is therefore in a higher credit risk category. However, as the loan is for educational purposes, we keep the interest rate at a reasonable level and share the risk with the Educational Institution. The Educational Institution would receive a percentage of the loan amount upfront from MANATI and thereafter they will receive payments in stages over the lifetime of the loan agreement from MANATI.
Paying off your loan early will reduce the total cost of your studies. We won’t penalise for early repayment.
We need personal information from the student and their sponsor to determine if they are credit worthy and can afford to repay the loan. You will be asked to complete an online loan application whereby you will be asked to agree to and give your consent to use your personal information. You can also give your consent to us via the phone as all our calls are recorded.
It is important that you read and understand the consent conditions that you will be asked to agree to when you complete the online application or speak to us on the phone:
- I, the loan applicant, declare that I understand the consent conditions listed below and that I was not forced to give my consent to MANATI.
- I, the student, declare that I understand the consent conditions listed below and that I was not forced to give my consent to MANATI.
- I, as the second sponsor to the loan application, declare that I understand the consent conditions listed below and that I was not forced to give my consent to MANATI.
I, being the loan applicant, student and/or second sponsor, also understand and declare that:
- To the best of my knowledge and belief, the particulars provided by me in the application and/or telephonically are true and correct, and that no additional information which might affect MANATI’s decision has been withheld my me;
- I obtained the relevant consent from all persons whose contact or personal information I provide to MANATI and its agents/partners;
- I am over the age of 18.
- I am under the age of 18, but I have obtained consent from legal guardian that I may provide my personal information to MANATI and its agents/partners;
- MANATI and its agents/partners can make enquiries about my credit record with any credit reference agency and any other party to confirm the information provided by me;
- MANATI and its agents/partners may contact me to request further information if required;
- MANATI and its agents/partners can carry out identity and fraud prevention checks and share information related to this to the South African Fraud Prevention Service;
- The Educational Institution can send my personal information, as provided by me to them, to MANATI and/or its agents/partners;
- Should I have a financial agreement in place with the the Educational Institution, MANATI and its agents/partners can request a statement and payment history of such financial agreement from the Educational Institution;
- MANATI and its agents/partners can share my personal information with Verification Information Suppliers to conduct background screening checks including, but not limited to, credit, employment references, proof of income, criminal record, fraud prevention, and ID verification;
- MANATI and its agents/partners will have the right to adhere to requests to provide consumer credit information to be released for fraud prevention or detection;
- I understand that Verification requests form part of the background screening process;
- I further understand that MANATI, its agents/partners, and Verification Information Suppliers need to share the outcome of the background screening checks (as listed above) between each other in order to make a decision about granting a loan;
- Requests for credit information from Credit Bureaus will only be conducted under the regulations defined as per the National Credit Act (NCA);
- Data obtained from the FSB serve only for the purpose to determine the fitness and propriety as envisaged in the FAIS Act;
- Any personal information supplied by me to MANATI and its agents/partners is provided voluntarily and I understand that MANATI and its agents/partners may not be able to comply with its obligations if the correct personal information is not supplied by me;
- Privacy is important to MANATI and its agents/partners. MANATI and its agents/partners will use reasonable efforts in order to ensure that any of my personal information in their possession or processed on their behalf is kept confidential, stored in a secure manner and processed in terms of South African law and or applicable Data Protection Legislation;
- I declare that all information, including personal information, supplied by me to MANATI and its agents/partners is accurate and current and I agree to correct and update such information as as possible and when necessary;
- By submitting any personal information to MANATI and its agents/partners, in any form, I acknowledge that such conduct constitutes a reasonable unconditional, specific and voluntary consent to the processing of such personal information in the following manner by MANATI, its agents/partners and/or Verification Information Suppliers:
- Personal information may be shared by MANATI with its agents/partners, Verification Information Suppliers, the Educational Institution, and Financial Services providers for verification or other legitimate purposes;
- Personal information may be shared by the Verification Information Suppliers with MANATI and its agents/partners and be further stored and shared by MANATI and its agents/partners for purposes of continued or future credit eligibility checks or for other legitimate purposes as per the NCA;
- Personal information may be stored for a reasonable period by MANATI, its agents/partners and/or the Verification Information Suppliers;
- Personal information may be transferred cross-border to countries, which do not necessarily have data-protection laws similar to South Africa, for verification or storage purposes. In any cross-border transfer of personal information the recipient will be notified of the need to protect the confidentiality of the personal information.
- If MANATI and/or its agents/partners have utilised my personal information contrary to the Privacy and Data Protection Conditions, I may first resolve any concerns with MANATI and its agents/partners directly. If I am not satisfied with such process, I have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator;
- A copy of my personal information will be kept by MANATI, its agents and their Verification Information Suppliers. A copy will be furnished to me upon request in terms of the provisions of POPI or the NCA and I understand that I may dispute any information in the record provided;
- I unconditionally agree to indemnify MANATI, its agents, the Educational Institution and their Verification Information Suppliers, acting in good faith in taking reasonable steps to process my personal information lawfully, against any liability that may result from the processing of my personal information. This includes unintentional disclosures of such personal information to, or access by unauthorised persons, and/or any reliance which may inadvertently be placed on inaccurate, misleading, or outdated personal information, provided to MANATI by myself or by a third party in respect of me;
- In authorising the declaration and consent referred to above, I confirm that I have not been forced or coerced into agreeing to the above information.
Your privacy is important to us. We strive to ensure that our use of your personal information or data is lawful, reasonable, and relevant to our business activities, with the goal of improving our services and your experience.
For us to provide you with financial/credit products and services we need to collect, use, share and store personal and financial information about you, in accordance with the requirements of the Protection of Personal Information Act (“POPIA”). This privacy notice aims, among other things, to inform you about how Manati Alternate Student Funding undertakes to keep your personal information secure when providing you with financial/credit products and services. This information includes information you share with us, information that we gather during the course of our relationship with you as client, as well as information about your marketing preferences. This notice also sets out your rights and how you may protect them.
What personal information do we collect and how?
Personal information is data that can be used to identify you. This information includes, but is not limited to names, ages, identity numbers, registration numbers, addresses and other contact details, income and payments records, financial information and banking details.
We collect your personal information in the following ways:
- Directly from you when you complete a loan application form, whether electronically or on hard copy.
- Indirectly from you when you interact with us electronically. When you are browsing our website, we may collect information from you, such as your internet address and server logs. All personal information is stored according to internationally accepted information security practices.
- Directly from other sources, such as public databases, data aggregators and third parties, as well as other financial institutions, credit bureaus, fraud prevention agencies; or indirectly through your interactions with third parties.
How do we use your information?
We may, with your permission or consent if required, use personal information
we collected in a number of ways, for example:
- To identify you.
- To provide you with financial/credit products and services.
- To assess your creditworthiness.
- To detect and prevent fraud and crime.
- To detect and prevent money laundering.
- For audits and debt collection purposes.
- For statistical analysis.
- To meet our obligations under an agreement with you.
- To comply with legislative requirements.
We may record and monitor any communications between you and us and use these recordings to verify your instructions to us, to analyse, assess and improve our services to clients, and for training and quality purposes.
We will not sell your information to third parties and will only market to you in accordance with our legal obligations and your loan agreement with us.
We may communicate with you by post, phone, SMS, email, WhatsApp and other electronic media, including our mobile loan application services, about products that may be of interest to you or about your loan agreement terms with us. You may ask us to stop or start sending you marketing messages by informing us in writing, call centres or website.
It is your right to refuse to provide personal information, but you must keep in mind that this refusal may limit our ability to provide the required financial/credit services to you. It is important to note that Manati Alternate Student Funding will only collect information from you that is necessary and relevant to the service or product to be provided.
No information will be collected without your prior consent or as prescribed by law. We will not use information collected about you for marketing purposes you have not consented to.
Should we make use of third-party data providers, we will ensure that such providers have obtained the required consent to share the information with Manati Alternate Student Funding.
To whom will we disclose your information?
We will disclose your personal information to third parties only under the following circumstances:
- We have your consent to do so.
- We are required to do so by law.
- It is necessary to protect our legitimate interest, your legitimate interest or the legitimate interest of a third party to whom the information is supplied.
- It is in the public interest to do so.
- We have to meet tax reporting requirements.
- We are ordered to do so by a court of law.
Protecting Manati Alternate Student Funding’s interests may sometimes require the disclosure of specific client information to third parties, for example if payment failed due to insufficient funds in an account. Where required to protect the public interest, information regarding a client’s debt may be disclosed to credit bureaus or debt collection agencies.
When sharing your information with recipients in other jurisdictions, we will ensure that they adhere to similar privacy protection requirements as we do – either by law or by legal agreement.
Consent
By utilising the Manati Alternate Student Funding website and/or online loan application form, you agree and consent to the transfer of your personal data and information and to be bound by the provisions of this Privacy Notice.
Security
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. To prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect.
Retention
We will retain your information only for as long as we need it, given the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by law (including tax legislation) and any other statutory obligations. Your information may be retained for varying periods from the end of our relationship, depending on regulatory requirements. We will take all reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify the personal information that we hold when it is no longer required.
Third-Party Sites
Should Manati Alternate Student Funding’s website or online application contain any link to sites that belong to third parties, Manati Alternate Student Funding will not be responsible whatsoever for any use of your personal information on such sites.
Trans-border Information Flow
Manati Alternate Student Funding makes use of third-party vendors based inside and outside of South Africa. Such vendors will subscribe to similar or better Protection of Information flow than POPIA.
Insofar as the order, onboarding, delivery and support, Manati Alternate Student Funding will ensure third parties will be addressed and the “Third-Party Sites” clause above will apply. Compliance per section 72 will be achieved through the use of the necessary contractual commitments from the relevant third parties.
Amendments to the Privacy Notice
Manati Alternate Student Funding reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to amend this Privacy Policy which is displayed on our website. It is the User’s responsibility to ensure it is acquainted with the latest terms of the Privacy Notice as displayed on our website.
Cookies
We sometimes make use of cookies to personalise your repeat visits to our website and online loan applications. Cookies are very small text files that may be stored on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website, enable images or click on a link in an email.
We use cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website to meet your needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.
Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.
You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.
How you can access and update your personal information
Should you wish to verify the information we have about you or request an update or amendment of such information, you may:
- Call us on 0105945398
- Email us at info@manati.co.za
About us
Manati Alternate Student Funding (Reg. No. 2015/235473/07) is a registered Credit Provider (NCR CP8052). We provide innovative funding solutions for a vast majority of prospective university and college students that wish to study at higher education institutions across South Africa, but are unable to do so because they cannot afford it or cannot secure financing.
