| Thu 10 May 2001, 0:00 | | Unifer In Home Loan Tie-up With Nactu |
|
UNIFER HOLDINGS LIMITED
Emerging market financial services group, UniFer, has further entrenched its
decade-long relationship with organised labour with the signing today of a
housing loan contract with the National Council of Trade Unions (NACTU). The
deal, which adds NACTU's 400,000 strong membership to UniFer's existing
portfolio of 1.1m labour union clients, was signed by Cunningham Ngcukana,
NACTU's general secretary and Cornh Ferreira, group executive director of
UniFer.
"This joint effort is important to NACTU," says Ngcukana, "because it enables
200,000 of our members without homes of their own to have a channel through
which they can obtain a financing opportunity that is both affordable and
convenient. We have been waiting for this for a long time."
Repayments will be effected via payroll deductions negotiated directly by NACTU
with its members' employers.
Ferreira sees the agreement as being an important milestone. "The contract to
supply housing finance is a first for an emerging market financial services
organisation," he says, "inasmuch as UniFer will be able to offer finance
without the need for a pension or provident fund as security. And that's a big
breakthrough. It's also a money-saver for the borrower because the middleman is
eliminated, so the deal is directly between the customer and the bank."
Loans will be supplied by Unibank, while Constantia, UniFer's short-term
insurance subsidiary, will arrange for the underwriting of the credit-risk
insurance.
Housing loans on offer range between R10,000 and R60,000. The package includes
an initial once-off admin fee of R550, while instalments - repayable over a
period of five to eight years - will not exceed 25% of the member's basic
salary.
"We expect the first 50,000 contracts to roll out over the next two years,"
Ferreira predicts, "translating into a R2bn line of funding from UniFer over
the period."
UniFer's involvement in this project is in line with its strategy to broaden
its product base to include: Personal Loans, Finance, Retail Credit Finance,
Micro Enterprise Finance, Asset Finance Origination and Housing Finance.
ENDS
ISSUED BY: Bullion PR and Communications
Contact person: Lola Lazarus
Tel: (011) 803-3615
e-mail:lola@bullionpr.com
ON BEHALF OF: UniFer Holdings
Contact person: Cornh Ferreira, Group Executive Director
Tel: (011) 259-7030
Mobile: 083 275 2028
Contact person: Ronel Muller, Investor Relations
Tel: (011) 259-7040
Mobile: 083 326 5996
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