Why do I need to give Student Hero consent to use the personal information submitted to the online loan application form?

We need personal information from the student and their surety/sponsor to determine if they are creditworthy and can afford to repay the loan. In addition to using the information to do the affordability and credit assessment, we also need to collect your information in order to connect and facilitate your loan application to funding providers (ABSA, Capitec Bank,  Standard Bank, Manati Alternate Student Funding, Nedbank, Sanlam, FNB, African Bank, DirectAxis, and Fundi) and also to convey the outcome of your loan application to the relevant educational institution. You will be asked to provide information about the student’s studies, employment, income, expenses, contact details, and address, by completing our online loan application form (hereinafter referred to as only Personal Information). However, for us to proceed to process, connect and facilitate your application to our funding partners, we need your written, telephonic or electronic consent. You can give your consent on the phone as all our calls are recorded or electronically when you complete the online application. It is important that you read the consent conditions and understand how we manage your data for the purposes of facilitating your loan application. Privacy is important to Student Hero and its funding partners. Student Hero and its funding partners will use reasonable efforts to ensure that any 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, for the purposes that you have supplied it. 

By giving Student Hero your written, telephonic or electronic consent to use your Personal Information, you consent to the following terms and conditions by making the following declaration:

DECLARATION

This Consent Form has been explained to me in plain language and I now declare, consent to, and declare that: 

• To the best of my knowledge and belief, the particulars set out in this form are true and correct, and no additional information which might affect the decision of the credit provider has been withheld by me, my spouse and/or the student;

• I obtained the relevant consent from all persons whose contact or personal information I provided to Student Hero and its agents/partners;

• I am over the age of 18 or under the age of 18, but I have obtained consent from my legal guardian that I may provide my personal information to Student Hero and its agents/partners;

• Student Hero, its agents and its credit providing partners may use my Personal Information for the purpose to make enquiries about my credit record with any credit reference agency and any other party to confirm the information provided by me;

• Student Hero, its agents and its credit providing partners may contact me to request further information if required;

• Student Hero, its agents and its credit providing partners can carry out identity and fraud prevention checks and share information relating to this form to the South African Fraud Prevention Service;

• Student Hero and its agents can provide feedback to the Educational Institution about the outcome and/or progress of my student loan application;

• Student Hero, its agents and its credit providing 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;

• Requests for consumer credit information to be released for fraud prevention or detection;

• Verification requests form part of the background screening process;

• Requests for credit information from Credit Bureaus will only be conducted under the regulations defined as per the National Credit Act (NCA). A copy of regulations defined as per the NCA can be accessed and perused here: https://www.gov.za/documents/national-credit-act-national-credit-regulations-including-affordability-assessment;

• I supply my Personal Information to Student Hero voluntarily and understand that Student Hero may not be able to render its facilitation service if my personal information is not supplied and supplied correctly;

• Information supplied to Student Hero and its agents is accurate and current and I undertake to correct and/or update such information when necessary;

  • Further to the above, by submitting personal information to Student Hero and its agents in any form  consent to the processing of such personal information in the following manner by Student Hero and/or Verification Information Suppliers:

  • Personal information may be shared by Student Hero with its agents, Funding Partners, Verification Information Suppliers, the Educational Institution, and Financial Services providers for verification purposes;

  • Personal information may be shared by the Verification Information Suppliers with Student Hero and be further stored and shared by Student Hero for purposes of continued or future credit eligibility checks as per the NCA;

  • Personal information may be stored by Student Hero and/or the Verification Information Suppliers for the period necessary for achieving the purpose for which the information was collected or subsequently processed, unless retention is required for a lawful purpose related to a Responsible Party’s functions/activities; or it is required by a contract between the parties.;

• Personal information may be transferred cross-border only if the destination country has similar or better data protection laws than South Africa.

• If Student Hero has utilised the personal information contrary to the Privacy and Data Protection Conditions, I may resolve any concerns with Student Hero and I have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator;

• A copy of personal information kept by Student Hero, its agents and their Verification Information Suppliers will be furnished to me upon request, free of charge, 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 Student Hero and their Verification Information Suppliers, if in compliance with POPI and 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 Student Hero by myself or by a third party in respect of me; and

• I understand that Student Hero is the trading name of Study Loans 4U (Pty) Ltd.

Do you give Student Hero consent to use your Personal Information, to conduct credit and affordability checks and facilitate your loan application in terms of the above terms and conditions?