Standard Bank Debt Care Centre

Standard Bank says the Debt Care Centre starts by listening to your financial situation and then tailors a personalised debt relief solution to reduce your monthly repayments. Applications are online, with a call-me-back option.

It lists four solutions:

• Term extension: you extend your loan period, to reduce your monthly repayments.
• Re-spread of arrears
• Payment holiday
• Debt consolidation: qualifying debt combined into one repayment.

Standard Bank says that once it has all your documents the process takes 3 to 7 business days for restructures and 5 to 10 business days for debt consolidation.

The centre is part of the bank, so it acts for the bank as your creditor. If you want formal debt review instead, Standard Bank tells you to choose a registered debt counsellor from the National Credit Regulator.

• Standard Bank describes the Debt Care Centre as tailoring a personalised debt relief solution to reduce monthly repayments; applications are online, with a call-me-back option. (standardbank.co.za)
• Standard Bank lists four Debt Care Centre solutions: term extension, re-spread of arrears, payment holiday and debt consolidation. (standardbank.co.za)
• Standard Bank says the Debt Care Centre debt relief combines qualifying debt into one repayment, while debt review is a regulatory process run by a debt counsellor and formalised by a court order. (standardbank.co.za)
• Standard Bank states the response time once all documents are received: 3-7 business days for restructures and 5-10 business days for debt consolidation. (standardbank.co.za)
• Standard Bank's Debt Review page tells customers to contact a registered debt counsellor of their choice from the National Credit Regulator; the bank does not act as the counsellor. (standardbank.co.za)
• Standard Bank's Debt Review page states that while under debt review a consumer cannot access or apply for new credit and is listed at the credit bureau as under debt review. (standardbank.co.za)
• Standard Bank's Debt Review page lists the National Credit Regulator as an escalation contact and the National Financial Ombud website nfosa.co.za (labelled 'Banking Ombudsman'). (standardbank.co.za)
• The Promise to Pay arrangement lets a customer repay arrears plus the instalment over up to three months. (standardbank.co.za)
• The National Financial Ombud commenced operations on 1 March 2024 as an amalgamation of the Banking Ombud, the Credit Ombud and two insurance ombuds (supports the entry's 'absorbed the Credit Ombud in 2024'). (nfosa.co.za)

Checked on 30 September 2026 against Standard Bank's official website. Before you sign anything with a debt help firm, confirm the debt counsellor's registration with the National Credit Regulator, and never pay a "removal" or "clearance" fee to someone who contacts you out of the blue.

Sources: standardbank.co.za, standardbank.co.za.

Debt review does not cancel debt. The NCR says reduced payments mean the repayment period may get longer, but you keep legal protection while you keep paying as agreed. Standard Bank's own description is that a debt counsellor creates a repayment plan for credit providers and a court order formalises it.

A bank solution can suit one struggling account. If you owe several credit providers and cannot keep up, ask a registered counsellor whether debt review fits. See the debt review process.

The bank's Debt Care Centre pages do not say how a restructure or payment holiday is reported to the credit bureaus. Ask exactly how your arrangement will be recorded before you agree.

Also ask for these in writing:

• the new monthly repayment, the new end date and the total you will repay over the whole term
• any fee that applies to the solution
• what happens if you miss a payment under the new arrangement

The Debt Care Centre page shows no fee, so we do not state one.

Standard Bank lists 0860 111 400 for the Debt Care Centre and +27 (0)861 111 402 for its Debt Review line, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm. The Debt Review line answers questions about how debt review works. The bank does not act as your counsellor.

Confirm any number on the official Standard Bank website before you call, because scammers impersonate banks. Use the contact details on the official website, your banking app or the back of your card.

Never share your PIN, full card number or one-time passwords with anyone who phones you claiming to be from the bank.

Debt review is voluntary. You apply to a counsellor of your choice, and placing a consumer under debt review without their knowledge and consent is prohibited conduct. The bank cannot make that choice for you.

For a complaint about how the bank handled your account, use the Standard Bank complaints line on 0860 101 101. If you are not satisfied, the National Financial Ombud is free and can help once you have complained to the bank first. It took over the Credit Ombud on 1 March 2024. Its number is 0860 800 900.

Complaints about a debt counsellor go to the National Credit Regulator on 0860 627 627 or [email protected]. It also handles complaints from the public about credit providers and credit bureaus.

You are entitled to one free credit report a year, and you can challenge anything inaccurate on it free of charge.