What is DebiCheck, and what am I agreeing to?

DebiCheck is a type of debit order that you confirm directly with your own bank, usually in your banking app, by USSD or by SMS. When you approve it, you agree that a named company may collect a set amount on set dates from your account. It makes collections more visible and harder to abuse. It doesn’t change what you owe.

How DebiCheck works

With an older debit order, a company could start collecting once it had your signed form, and your bank never asked you. DebiCheck adds a step. After you agree to a loan, the lender sends the mandate details to your bank. Your bank then asks you to confirm them. Only an approved mandate can be used to collect.

1. You sign your loan agreement, which sets out the repayment amount and dates.
2. The lender sends a DebiCheck request with those details to your bank.
3. Your bank shows you the request and asks you to approve or reject it.
4. Once approved, collections must stay within what you confirmed.

What you are confirming

Read the request carefully before you approve it. Banks lay it out differently, but these details should be there:

Creditor

The company that will collect. It may show the lender’s legal name rather than its brand name.

Contract reference

A reference that should match your agreement or account number.

Instalment amount

The amount collected each time. Check it against your agreement to the cent.

Collection date and frequency

For a monthly loan, the day of the month and the first collection date.

Maximum amount

The most that may ever be collected in one go under this mandate.

Date adjustment or tracking

Whether the collection may be retried over the following days if the money isn’t in your account on the date.

If any detail doesn’t match what you agreed, don’t approve it. Contact the lender through its official channel and ask for a corrected request.

Collection dates and paydays

The collection date matters more than most people expect. If a repayment is collected the day before your salary arrives, it fails, and a failed collection can cost you bank charges and a missed-payment note on your account. Ask for a date that falls on or just after your usual payday.

Tracking, where the mandate allows it, means the collection can be tried again over the next few days if the money isn’t there on the date. It can help when a salary is a day late, but it is not a substitute for choosing the right date.

If your payday changes, for example with a new job, tell the lender. Changing the date usually means a new or amended mandate, which your bank will ask you to approve again. Until it is approved, the old date still applies.

Approving is not being paid out

Confirming a mandate gives permission to collect repayments. It does not pay out a loan and it doesn’t mean a loan has been approved. The payout is a separate payment that the lender makes once your agreement is in place. If you are asked to approve a mandate before you have seen a written quote, ask why. If a request comes from a company you don’t recognise, reject it.

For how long a payout usually takes to arrive, see payout times.

What DebiCheck doesn’t do

DebiCheck is a way of paying, not the debt itself. Suspending or cancelling a mandate with your bank stops the collections, but you still owe the money under your agreement. Missed repayments can lead to the charges set out in the agreement and can be reported to credit bureaux.

If you need to change how or when you pay, talk to the lender first and agree another way to pay before you stop a mandate. How repayments work at RandLeaf.

If an amount is wrong or a request is unexpected

• The request doesn’t match your agreement. Reject it and contact the lender for a corrected request.
• You never applied for credit with that company. Reject it and tell your bank. Someone may be using your details.
• A collection doesn’t match the mandate you approved. Contact your bank straight away, and the lender too.

What can be disputed, and how, depends on your bank’s rules. Generally a collection that matches a mandate you confirmed is treated differently from an old-style debit order you never confirmed. Ask your bank what applies to your situation. Don’t rely on anyone who promises an automatic refund.

Changes in how the payment system is run

For years the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) managed the rules of the national payment system. During 2026 those functions are moving to the South African Reserve Bank and PayInc. Older articles may still send you to PASA. This change is between the banks and the regulators; it doesn’t change what you agreed with your lender. For a problem with a collection, your own bank remains the place to start.

DebiCheck at RandLeaf

RandLeaf collects repayments by DebiCheck. The request should match your agreement: the instalment amount, the monthly date and the number of repayments. The creditor name may show our legal entity, not yet published, rather than the brand name. If anything looks different, don’t approve it and contact us first. Our phone, email and support hours are not yet published.

Our DebiCheck help page covers what to do if an approval fails or a collection is missed.